To the Editor:

Looking back on a management style and its tactics and looking forward to accountability is the topic of the day. The city of John Day hired, in my opinion, the most liberal and unexperienced manager in its history. In April 2019 Nick Green writes: “Profitability is less important for a public agency. We are not designed to generate profits and are required by law to break even.” As we, on the outside watching in, find the service on the debt rise every year. This figure is the principal amount taken off of debt, plus the interest paid in each fiscal year.

Audit for FY 17-18, the debt service amounted to $259,568. Under the topic of “solvency,” Mr. Green includes the following statement: “By using leverage (debt) to make land acquisitions, capital improvements like finishing the fire hall, and building greenhouses, we created near-term debt obligations … and long term debt obligations.” By doing this, he says, “we also created assets whose value exceeds our debts as a result of external investment from third parties.”

So, to make this short, he is creating debt to build stuff to borrow more money as assets rise. To date, I know of no third parties that are participating in this failing plan. So far, the city has been borrowing large amounts of money to “subsidize” third parties, and only a handful of them.

Let’s go forward now and look at the 2022/2023 budget. $1,413,889 is the debt service for this coming fiscal year. This comes to $812.58 for every man, woman and child within the city limits this year alone for the privilege of living in the city. For the property taxpayer that figure is $1,178.24 for this upcoming FY.

In the Dec. 14 URA meeting, (RES.) No. 2021-06, he requested a loan from Business Oregon for URA, and in this resolution it includes additional funding from this loan for “debt service.” So he is borrowing for debt service to satisfy these loans. How does this sound like “breaking even” to a balanced budget? Borrowing for debt service is not a way to balance a budget.

Bob Pereira

John Day