Putting Lake Forest First Just Went from Bad to Worse

Last month I reported that the City spent the least amount on people/businesses in the City in all the years I have been tracking it. We went from our normal 4% to 5% (which is pathetic) to an incredible 1.8%. Of $3,442,444 spent in October 2013 a mere $62,087 stayed in Lake Forest.

Now the figures are even worse. Of $3,722,652 spent in November, a mere $51,024 stayed in Lake Forest. That’s a mere 1.4%.   We spent even more on others and even less on ourselves. Of that $51,024 that stayed in the City, $30,895 or 60% went to a single company (The PM Group).

At the rate we’re going, pretty soon we’ll be spending nothing in the City.

Whoever fills the seat vacated by Peter Herzog, spending more of our money in our city and on our citizens surely must be one of his/her top priorities. Both Councilmen Nick and Robinson promised to do this, and nearly a year after they took office, we are at an all-time low. Let’s hope the new council member is better with his/her actions than his/her words. Promises are easy. It’s results that matter.

I’ve already outlined the steps that need to be taken. It’s not rocket science. It should be relatively easy to bring our rate of spending up to 10% on the people and businesses in our city. Beyond that, it may take some hard work. It can all begin tomorrow if the Council will simply appoint a group of citizens to take on this task. Yet despite my pleas and the promises, when I asked once again at the Council meeting last night, for them to put the formation of this committee on the Council agenda, I was met with blank stares and silent voices.

Some people have dismissed the idea of spending more at home because even with the best efforts, it’s just a drop in the bucket. Suppose we can get back to 5% from the low 2% base we seem to be at. With a $35 Million annual budget, a 3% increase is $1,000,000. That’s no drop in the bucket. Now suppose that we can go from 5% to 10%. That’s $3,500,000. That’s a lot of money. True, if we spread it out among the thousands of people and hundreds of businesses, it won’t go very far. But imagine if you could earn an extra $500 this year by conducting a workshop for the City. Or if your business could earn an extra $5,000 this year by supplying services or products to the City? It may not make the difference between life and death, but it will make a difference.

Some people claim that so much of our money is already obligated (e.g., Police, utilities)  that there is no room to squeeze any more for the people and businesses in our city. That's simply wrong. The non-discretionary part of our budget accounts for only about 50% of what we spend. That leaves a huge chunk of change

Others argue that if we start looking after our own we will launch a war between cities to do the same. Who says other cities aren’t doing that right now? I can’t imagine that any city spends less than 1.4% of its budget at home.

BTW – This Friday and Saturday the Handmadens group will be having their annual sale at Lake 1 clubhouse starting at 9:30 am. This is a local group and they have lots of terrific handmade items for sale. Here’s a chance to spend your money in your city.

Bottom line - the Council should act and appoint a group of concerned citizens to help us spend more of our money at home. The broad outline of what to do has already been posted.