– News about Quincy Massachusetts from Quincy Quarry News.

Hiding behind a screen
Image via Common Sense Meda

Quincy property taxes for next year set under the protective cover of Zoom.

In what was a gobsmacking snow job – at least as far as Quincy Quarry News and at least most of its ever-growing legions of loyal readers are concerned, local 2022 property tax rates have zoomed even higher. 

Further, during this past Monday night’s City Council meeting on Zoom, the free-spending Koch Machine’s presentation of the proposed local property tax rates for 2022 was stripped down to a bare minimum.

Special interests need not worry in the Q …
A ThePeoplesVoice.org graphic image

For example, the Koch Maladministration’s traditional making much of how a split tax roll approach sets commercial property tax rates per $1,000 at close to twice as much as residential rates so make property tax bills less painful for homeowners was instead quickly addressed this year.

But not to worry for commercial property owners as their property values have been all but stagnant for years as well as their assessed values perhaps favorably calculated whereas residential assessments have been soaring.

And overall, the whole of the presentation was quick and humorless (and not even inadvertently so, ed.), unlike Mayor Koch’s Happy Yak podcast discussion of the impending 2022 property tax increases last week.

Upon in smoke as usual
Image via cheat-sheet.com

So quick was the presentation that the actual final tax rates per $1,000 by category were not mentioned and so leaving people to have to do the math themselves.

In short, all things considered, the maladministration’s short presentation was in its own way arguably almost as fast as cockroaches scattering when kitchen lights are turned on in the middle of the night inside of a Brockton tenement.

In fact, as well as at most, about all of what little numerical detail noted by the maladministration’s designated sacrificial lambs was that the 2022 property tax bill on the average assessed value residence in Quincy will go up by roughly $230.00.

Ready for take-off!!!
Image via AFAR Magazine

Conversely, things not clearly mentioned per usual past practice include no apparent noting that local property tax bills will be going up by roughly 3.6%.

Granted, a 3.6% property tax rate increase is less than the rate of increase in many other Massachusetts communities will be imposing next year. 

At the same time, do be sure to note that Quincy’s property tax bills in 2022 would have gone up, ceteris paribus, by roughly 12.6% were it not for the Koch Maladministration kiting a roughly $23 million payment towards endeavoring to (perhaps, ed.) properly fund the City of Quincy’s woefully underfunded employee pension until Fiscal Year 2023.

Follow the money – always follow the money
An oxycom.com image

At the same time, however, at least the Maladministration was deservedly slapped around a bit as regards how a case can be made that the variously worrisome intertwined plans to issue $475 million in Pension Obligation Bonds in the hope of bailing out the city’s woefully underwater pension fund smacks of “borrowing” from Peter in the hope of being able to pay Paul. 

In short, a pension bond is issued to borrow money to then invest in the hope that it will be possible to score a greater return on investment than the cost of the bond debt service expense and so perhaps be able to eventually cover a pension obligations funding shortfall.

This fraught with peril hope, however, is strongly recommended against pursuing by the Public Finance Officers Association, the professional association for those involved in public finance matters.

That and one must also keep in mind that over a decade of less than aces investment management of the City of Quincy’s pension fund during the tenure of the Koch Maladministration has played a major role in why the city’s pension is in even worse shape than the MBTA’s long-known to be woefully underfunded pension fund.

The freakin’ T!!!

And as for other related dope slappings of Koch Maladministration officials, they included extracting word from Kochsters that the $475 million bond had yet to actually be sold; however, it was then quickly noted that the sale of these bonds was “anticipated” to be completed this week.

Tell us yet another story Pinocchio …
An old Facebook photo

No word, however, if someone’s dog had eaten the paperwork and thus fueled the delay.

In any event, the maladministration was thus yet again deservedly dope slapped as last spring it had stated on the record that it had expected to see the bond offering completed by no later than by around the end of last summer.

Then again, as virtually no major Koch Maladministration initiative is completed on time and/or on budget, that this bond offering was also running late as well as likely to end up more expensive than expected should not be a surprise to anyone familiar with the maladministration koching-up things..

Not addressed, however, on Monday night was how this near half a billion bond issue will also amost double the total amount of the City of Quincy’s outstanding note and bond debt obligations and which local taxpayers, in turn, have to cover, one way or another.

An image via eBay

What is, however, of even greater concern is how it would appear that the bond’s annual coupon interest rate payment could well run upwards of 2.75%.

In turn, such would reduce the hoped-for arbitrage margin of the return on investment on the pension fund portfolio less the debt service expense on the pension bond debt service to a point disconcerting to those savvy as regards such things – specifically, how last spring when seeking approval of issuing a pension bond, the Koch Machine was foisting the expectation of a but 2% or thereabout bond interest payment rate but now may run as much as 2.75% when the dust settles after the bonds are actually sold.

And for everyone else, think ultimately but a variation on a subprime mortgage circa 2007 bet on the come that future returns will play out positively even if the odds back then did not bode well.

Especially given the Koch Maladministraton’s well-known to those in the know Medusa’s touch.

Shoveling it?
Image via The Fact Checker/Washington Post

When pressed on these worrisome factors, the Koch Maladministration’s “creative” bookkeeper offered up comment that Quincy Quarry’s financial and other affairs expert found flawed to up points rating three Pinocchios out of four on some statements, if not going four for four in one instance.

Best case spin: the Koch Machine’s bookie foisted arcane statements which can be readily challenged as arguable gibberish or at least little other than fraction truths presented as the whole truth.

Trust me, it will all work out just fine …
Image via Facebook

For example, recall that the Koch Machine was pursuing approval of a thirty-year term on the pension bond and so be able to kick the can way down the road, only to see but an eighteen-year term ending up to be the case.

In turn, as with going with a fifteen-year mortgage instead of a thirty-year mortgage, the annual debt payments will be higher even if the loan is so expected to be paid off sooner. 

As for Quincy, the annual nut to cover the $475 million bond will be up by roughly 50% higher on top of the fact that a higher interest rate than expected will further be increasing the financial pain on local taxpayers going forward.

How painful in dollar terms for local taxpayers will be the pounding? 

Figure on a once expected roughly $13 million saving in Fiscal Year 2023, as well as in fiscal years thereafter until 2040, will NOT be happening and thus some combination of increasing taxes and/or the unlikely cutting of spending by the Koch Maladministration will be necessary.

Needless to say, expect even more Koch and mirrors legerdemain in coming months as well as for at least a couple of years longer as the next mayoral election is not until November of 2023.

QQ disclaimer