City Manager’s Budget Presentation: Revenues

• Looks like we’re on par for revenues so far YTD in Property Taxes and other key areas
• We’re ahead in Motor Vehicle Excise taxes YTD
• Ahead in License and Permit revenues, but those will cool in the second half of the year
• Trash Bag sales may fall behind FY08 revenue estimates

8:19

Clancy on the NFL

And a bit of revisionist – or at least NFL centric – history from Clancy, who claims that the NFL had to “step in” to get the Patriots game on local networks when Charter wasn’t carrying the NFL Network.

Except that it was more than just Charter—it was a nationwide issue with several cable companies.

7:43

Charter cable not the council’s favorite

“You know what they call a poor ten year contract…eternal,” quips Clancy.   And bringing up customer service satisfaction got a big chuckle from Palmieri, who railed against Charter last week.

There’s a few issues at play: Councilors are looking for some competition, if possible, maybe in the guise of Verizon’s FiOS service; they also want to make sure Charter doesn’t get another long term contract, and that customer service, etc. improves.

Clancy also says that the initial EPA pre-draft-permit called for standards to be met at the END of the pipes, and that’s where the CMD $1.2 billion estimate came from…

And Palmieri, who says he is “more enthusiastic than the past two weeks,” sums it up nicely: “When it says ‘must’ and ‘shall,’ it’s a critical element….If that was out of this document, we’d be in much better shape.”
7:26

Council v. EPA IV

The City Council is asking the administration to look further at the discrepancy between the EPA’s estimates for the stormwater permit upgrades and the city’s estimates.   “Let’s stay within their estimate…let’s get that written into the permit,” says Clancy.  “This should not be an open ended permitting process that just says ‘you comply at any cost.’”

We’ll have a lot more on the City v. EPA debate in this week’s issue.

Council Liveblog #1: Eddy on shoveling

Councilor Bill Eddy just asked the city to talk to Mass Highway about adequately clearing snow off sidewalks on property that they control.    But what about the city’s own streets, asked Jeff earlier this month.

Council Circus tonight

It’s going to be a fun meeting tonight, with City Hall reorganization; non-union raises; and EPA battles all on the table.  Tune-in here, we’ll be liveblogging the night.

Lancaster fire video

With the Lancaster Street fire now officially being called an arson, today’s Telegram reported that officials were hoping to speak to the person who posted this video on YouTube under the alias “Stevethepyro.”

It’s a bit of a change from last week, when officials told the T&G that, “The name caught our attention, but it appears they were students just out that night.”  In that article and on his YouTube profile, the poster says that the handle is just a leftover screen name from high school.