– News about Quincy Massachusetts from Quincy Quarry News with commentary added.

Enough already
A file photo

Quincy Quarry Weekly Fish Wrap: Zoom happens …

It is official: the Koch Maladministration has stuck it to local taxpayers while hiding behind the cover of Zoom.

At Monday’s City Council meeting, a couple of maladministration sacrificial lambs were designated to take the hits for presenting 2022 property tax rates.

In turn, so skittish were the two lambs, there was no mention of the tax rate per $1,000 of assessed value for residences or commercial properties.

Instead, about all that was quickly mentioned was that the tax bill on the average assessed value residence would be going up by roughly $230 next year.

Do the math, follow the money – whatever …
Image via oxycom.com

As such, local taxpayers were left to do the math to figure out the increase on their respective 2022 property tax bills.

Granted, this financial hit was known to be coming as Quincy Mayor Thomas P. Koch yukked up as much last week during his weekly podcast; even so, the lack of such basic particulars is still a lack of proper particulars as the commercial rate per $1,000 in assessed value was also not mentioned.

Good luck following your property tax rate card …
A file photo

At the same time, in a suspected attempt to salve the pain, the sacrificial lambs tried to talk up how local assessed values on homes were up by 5%. 

A “couple” of small problems with this notion.

For example, homeowners cannot eat care of this increase, much less pay their property taxes from it, unless they refinance their mortgages.

Are Quincy taxpayers going to be gored even more by the market?
Stevan-Noronha

And speaking of refinancing, Mayor Koch has succeeded in grifting the final approval of a refinancing plan for the City of Quincy’s woefully bad off employee pension fund.

The plan entails issuing pension obligation bonds to raise money to then invest. 

So what for the fact that this risky financial play is not recommended by knowing professionals.

So what also, apparently, for the fact that no small part of the city’s pension fund shortfall is the result of less than aces pension fund investment management during the tenure of the Koch Maladministration.

Crash happen. All the time as a matter of fact
Image via emaze.com

Granted, the Crash of 2008 did not help; however, Quincy Quarry’s financial and other affairs desk has found clear indications that rookie sorts of mistakes were made after the crash.

All manner of suspected rookie mistakes as well as arguably also big mistakes.

Even worse, all manner of likely to prove to also be big mistakes look to now be variously in the works.

Specifically, given financial legerdemain, one is how Koch Machine is delaying roughly $23 million in pension-related debt service payments until Fiscal Year 2023.

Kicking the can down the road – way down the road
A [email protected] image

In other words, an arguable manner of kiting a check.

Even more troubling, rather than cutting property taxes or at least saving the twenty-three large, Quincy’s free-spending mayor will instead be spending it. 

All of it and then some.  In fact, a lot some more.

Be sure to further note that apparently so desperate was Mayor Koch to be able to score the $23 million grift that he appears to have agreed to suffer a roughly 50% increase in the annual debt service cost on the eighteen-year term pension bond.

In turn, this works out to a projected $12 million spending increase from what the mayor was touting last spring going forward starting next year as well as then continuing until 2040.

That and probably millions more as it appears that the Koch Machine will be looking at higher interest payments as it is also looking likely that the expected bond coupon rate is going to be higher than what was presented to the City Council last spring.

It’s money that I need
Image via danieldervartanian.com

A likely fair chunk higher as in perhaps upwards of a couple million or so more annually until – again – 2040 as well as assuming that the whole of the larger half-billion dollar bet actually pans out.

Then again, when one has a spending jones on his back, spending even more yet is only to be expected no matter what the cost inflicted upon local taxpayers who will be stuck covering the nut, losing a left one – whatever.

Plus, it is not as if anyone sentient expected anything different from Quincy’s peerless mayor.

QQ disclaimer