Just as a reminder, and as I have told you before, I would appreciate it if you want to simply "correspond" you do so by sending an e-mail. Over the past few days, I have received a couple letters via the comment option under the posts, but with "do not publish" requests. I will never intentionally disregard such a request. I will just note that I came very close to making a mistake yesterday and clicking the wrong button.
Anyway ...
Where are we at today?
Well the first full day of winter for one thing. The beginning of gloom and doom season for another. You can add the official start of "silly season", which like the Christmas season seems to start a bit earlier each year. Kind of appropriate as one does hear a story or two about ghosts of past, present and future haunting the dreams of some.
On thing that seems a near certainty for our future will be a Special Town Meeting for February. There had been some chatter a month or two ago about the need, but it seemed that perhaps that the then necessity would perhaps be able to wait. Well the need seems to be shaping up as a necessity in the minds of those charged with calling the meeting.
Truth be told, might be a good thing to deal with as many of the "spending" issues as possible prior to May. The spending being the union contracts settled or which could be pushed toward settlement. Makes it a whole lot easier to balance a budget when you know what you have to budget for.
Christmas is just two days away. My present to you is no Christmas Day blog.
With New Year's Day just around the corner, you might be curious as to my resolutions. Resolution #1: To attempt to pick up the pace a bit with the blogs again. Not sure how successful that one will be, but as I sit here this morning, seems like one worth resolving to do anyway.
Resolution #2: Figure out a way to get a square peg into a round hole. Well, most of us actually know how to do that anyway, right? Just dig a wider hole, right?
Resolution #3: Let that car hit the brick wall at full speed. Nothing is ever going to change until there is a crash. People look at the gloom and doom projections as false scare tactics. But it isn't a false tactic, just one to try and get people to focus on dealing with the long term.
However, when one pays attention, the simple fact is once budgets and articles are submitted and the total requests equal "y" and the total revenue only equals "x", you have a problem. When the cost of doing business increases at a rate higher than your revenue, well if you are an average Joe you pretty much no all about dealing with expenses outpacing revenue over the last 5 years or so.
In the past the problem has been dealt with by a combination of tossing out the pie in the sky wishes, then weeding out the would be "nice but not necessary" wishes, then deciding on the difference between "needs to be done but can wait", and finally prioritizing the needs to be done right now but has to wait a bit and the "cannot delay", than being just a tad bit less "conservative" with revenue estimates, and finally looking under every rock, emptying out every pocket and picking up all the pennies on the floor, whether heads-up or not.
Despite the sunny picture some see each first Saturday in May, most do not release the task in manufacturing the change to the forecast ensuring at least endurable conditions for a year. Fewer still seem to realize that on the financial gloom and doom front that rolls in every year, the "butterfly effect" is a real and constant concern. Each and every shift in conditions in one direction have a cause and effect to the conditions in all other directions.
The weather going forward is predicted to be a modest improvement in the state revenues which means a small increase in local aid, which means if your lucky the aid increase will at least offset the charge backs. For the local forecast, it means one less tool to change the scenario for the front forming.
People don't seem to want to listen anymore about gloom and doom predictions. This year they won't have to.
Anyway, it will be what it will be. Put the metal to the petal and let's see what that car can withstand.
Might seem a bit contradictory with today's post, but Be Safe.
Truth be told, might be a good thing to deal with as many of the "spending" issues as possible prior to May. The spending being the union contracts settled or which could be pushed toward settlement. Makes it a whole lot easier to balance a budget when you know what you have to budget for.
Christmas is just two days away. My present to you is no Christmas Day blog.
With New Year's Day just around the corner, you might be curious as to my resolutions. Resolution #1: To attempt to pick up the pace a bit with the blogs again. Not sure how successful that one will be, but as I sit here this morning, seems like one worth resolving to do anyway.
Resolution #2: Figure out a way to get a square peg into a round hole. Well, most of us actually know how to do that anyway, right? Just dig a wider hole, right?
Resolution #3: Let that car hit the brick wall at full speed. Nothing is ever going to change until there is a crash. People look at the gloom and doom projections as false scare tactics. But it isn't a false tactic, just one to try and get people to focus on dealing with the long term.
However, when one pays attention, the simple fact is once budgets and articles are submitted and the total requests equal "y" and the total revenue only equals "x", you have a problem. When the cost of doing business increases at a rate higher than your revenue, well if you are an average Joe you pretty much no all about dealing with expenses outpacing revenue over the last 5 years or so.
In the past the problem has been dealt with by a combination of tossing out the pie in the sky wishes, then weeding out the would be "nice but not necessary" wishes, then deciding on the difference between "needs to be done but can wait", and finally prioritizing the needs to be done right now but has to wait a bit and the "cannot delay", than being just a tad bit less "conservative" with revenue estimates, and finally looking under every rock, emptying out every pocket and picking up all the pennies on the floor, whether heads-up or not.
Despite the sunny picture some see each first Saturday in May, most do not release the task in manufacturing the change to the forecast ensuring at least endurable conditions for a year. Fewer still seem to realize that on the financial gloom and doom front that rolls in every year, the "butterfly effect" is a real and constant concern. Each and every shift in conditions in one direction have a cause and effect to the conditions in all other directions.
The weather going forward is predicted to be a modest improvement in the state revenues which means a small increase in local aid, which means if your lucky the aid increase will at least offset the charge backs. For the local forecast, it means one less tool to change the scenario for the front forming.
People don't seem to want to listen anymore about gloom and doom predictions. This year they won't have to.
Anyway, it will be what it will be. Put the metal to the petal and let's see what that car can withstand.
Might seem a bit contradictory with today's post, but Be Safe.
The fiscally conscious average Joe has been concerned about the seriousness of the fiscal condition for years. The fantasy dreamer average Joe still refuses to see what's coming. It ought to be an interesting budget season. The collision of fantasy and reality.
ReplyDeleteMaybe a little bit of reality will finally waken the sleeping giant.Fincom has stretched the rubber band to its max,and once it breaks the fantasies will end. Something will have to go an we all have a basic idea what whether your a dreamer or realist.
ReplyDelete