By Joe Flynn
Back to basics. All money in the city’s funds, coffers, treasure chests, you pick the title, is taxpayer money. In the effort to fund the Stadium Environmental Impact Report (EIR), the unanticipated refund from the state is being treated as “free” money.
Perhaps the term “refund” got lost in the shuffle; a refund usually implies that the money you paid or over paid, is being refunded, i.e., given back. It comes back to the city with the same restrictions that it had when it was paid. It may not be earmarked for a particular use, but that only implies that it goes back into the general fund.
So a $2 million unexpected refund comes back to the city treasurer, and like any other funds owned by the city, it requires a decision by the Mayor and Council to spend it – period. This is not complicated. I won’t use the rocket science analogy, and you don’t have to be a CPA or an auditor to nail this one.
So the Mayor and a majority of the Council made a decision to spend $2 million dollars of city funds for an EIR for a stadium to be named later. So this adventure in municipal finance is a double header; they are spending money under false pretenses (that it is free money) for an EIR in search of a project.
On complicated projects, one of my supervisors used the “Big Thicket,” analogy. The Big Thicket is a forested and swampy 112,000 acres in Texas, almost impenetrable. He used this analogy to ensure that we were not getting in deeper and getting lost. It was time to stop and get our bearings, and try to find our way out. Any reference to the current stadium dilemma is entirely coincidental.
Joe Flynn is a retired City of San Diego Planner
Lori Saldaña says
Thanks Joe-
Still trying to understand how any stadium-related study or project that requires funding -EIR included- and is paid for with tax dollars, is anything other than a public subsidy for a potential new stadium.
It is a “distinction without a difference.”
Yet no one seems concerned by the contradiction with stated public policy and this City Council vote.
bob dorn says
I doubt Smilin’ Kevin Faulconer believes he’s fooling anyone with this claim the EIR is cost-free. It’s just a fig leaf he’s thrown over the Chargers debacle, with the help of a majority of equally cynical council members who, like him, know that Chargers fans form a sturdy voting percentage.
michael-leonard says
“…an EIR in search of a project.”
The only possibile positive that I can see is that sooner or later SOMETHING will be done with those 166 acres. So, an EIR will be needed at some point anyway, and — voila! — we’ll already have it.
Karen Heumann says
Okay, here is the plan. That plan is to pretend to be working on a plan and delay, then put a wet finger in the air, give our best guess to wind direction, and roll out a plan. Well, a plan that, you know, isn’t really a plan. See, here is the thing. Stuff costs money. And, a stadium is, well, stuff. And, some stuff, like a stadium, cost a lot of money. So, the money has to come from somewhere. And, here is the great thing. Money comes into the city, the county, the state, wherever, and then gets allocated wherever. I mean, sometimes the money is allocated ahead of time but there is a lot of flexibility with all of that, especially with what we call general fund money. It can be spent on a lot of things. So, you know that shell game where you try to figure out where the quarter or whatever went? Which shell is it under? I mean, it has to be under one of them, right? And, that is all that really matters. The money is allocated and it gets moved around and then if money is needed somewhere else, well, the money gets moved over there. But, not directly. I mean, it is not like the money goes to that thing. First it goes to the thing it was allocated for and then it gets moved because of contingencies, and emergencies, and reallocation, or caps or minimums, or restructuring. Anyway, here is the point. You want a stadium? It costs money. Your money. My money. And, if you don’t want a stadium? Well, actually, just deal with it. Because let’s face it, a vote takes time and money- whoa, did not see that one coming did you? Not having a vote saves taxpayer money. And, that is money that can fund a stadium. See how that works? We thought there might be a vote and that vote was going to cost a lot of money. And, now that there is no vote needed, we are going to take that taxpayer savings and reallocate the money to the stadium. And, there you go. We are going to use the tax savings from eliminating the public vote and use it to pay for a stadium. That is the plan.
Mandy Barre says
Hope people in San Diego remember this Faulconer debacle at election time!