In “Mayor’s View: DeKalb in Solid Financial Shape for 2017,” John Rey is claiming that DeKalb is in fine financial shape.
This will be his campaign refrain, but it’s nonsense. DeKalb has been spending more than it’s been taking in, the steep rise in spending is primarily due to over-staffing, and the foremost casualty is infrastructure such as street maintenance. It’s the same pattern as for 2010-11, only worse.
[easychart type=”line” width=”420″ title=”Capital Project Expenditures in Millions” groupnames=”Capital Funds, MFT for Streets, Total Cap Plus MFT” valuenames=”06, 07, 08, 09, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17″ group1values=”3.4, 2.0, 1.8, 1.8, .6, 1, 1.3, 2.2, 1.3, 1, .9, .9″ group2values=”1.9, .9, 1.5, .9, 1.2, .3, .2, .4, .9, .4, 0, 0″ group3values=”5.3, 2.9, 3.3, 2.7, 1.8, 1.3, 1.5, 2.6, 2.2, 1.4, .9, .9″ minaxis=”.8″]
The first category reflects expenditures from Capital Projects, Fleet Fund, and Equipment Fund; some years Fleet and Equipment are separate, other years they are combined with/in Capital Projects. The second category includes expenditures out of two accounts in the Motor Fuel Tax (MFT) Fund that have to do with street maintenance and construction. (Other accounts in this fund, such as one for road salt, are more operationally related and therefore not included.) The third category combines the first two expenditure categories so you can see how close to the bottom of the barrel we are.
As projected, the coming year’s capital expenditures will reach their lowest point in at least a dozen years.
Related: DeKalb’s $10 Million Budget Hole