The Reading Eagle 10-8-09
Dear Editor,
Thank you for the very informative opinion about the City of Reading in today’s Eagle. With a Budget of $60 million and a population of 80,000 the City spends $750 per resident. Your opinion was that the city needs outside help.
The Borough of Kutztown with a Budget of $21 million and a population of 5,000 spends $4,200 per resident.
At least the City of Reading realizes they need help. According to the Kutztown Borough Council and the Mayor everything is wonderful in Kutztown. The Kutztown philosophy is spend whatever amount pleases you and then raise taxes, fees permits etc. to pay for the irresponsible and wild spending.
For starters the population of Reading is 16 times greater than Kutztown and the Budget is only 3 times the amount of Kutztown’s and the Borough does not have a paid Fire Department. But the Borough does operate a business venture, Hometown Utilicom that loses $1 million a year.
How can there be such a great difference in the above statistics?
Gennaro A. Marino
Resident of Kutztown
409 W. main St.
Kutztown, Pa 19530
610-683-7977
Blog www.marinoreport.com
Thursday, October 8, 2009
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23 comments:
Of course Gerry you once again distort and create fiction. The answer to your "statistics" is simple, you fail to include all the facts.
lets see, the people of Reading pay for power to a vendor that does not return money to Reading.
lets see, the people of Reading pay (not all, some parts) trash removal and the vendor does not return money to Reading.
Lets see, the people of Reading pay a vendor for television, internet and telephone and once again the vendor does not return money to Reading.
So lets ask the people of Reading, how happy are you? If you had a chance to purchase services for electric, water, sewer, refuse, television, internet, telephone and your money "stays in your community working for you" which would you choose?
Marino, you should move to Reading and then you can have all of what you want. What's stopping you?
One more note, its not the city of Reading offering the informative opinion, its the News Paper. Try and get your facts straight.
Take some brain pills and double the prescription
I would venture to say that 99.9% of the people living in Reading today would rather have living conditions as good as Kutztown residents enjoy. That is an all encompassing opinion of the real world we live in.
Jerry: Have you lost it completely? Move to Reading for 6 months and let us know how you liked it. I know quite a few people that will not even set foot in Reading, not even to visit the hospitals. You have gone looney tunes on us now. Stop the insanity, get back to the real world. People reading this don`t know what to believe.
I have some experience of living in big city that is why I live in Kutztown. My blog is about the wild spending by the Kutztown Borough Council. How can the Borough spend $4,200 per resident per year without raising the cost of living with the continuous rate hikes in Borough services? Reading with all its problems spends only $750 per resident. What is my distortion or fiction? These are the facts. Again please check my figures because they seem to be ridiculous, in fact just as ridiculous as the comments.
Marino, how dense are you?
$750 per resident buys them what?
Answer:
Buys them exactly what they have right now, NOTHING! Every expense is paid to some vendor selling services and the monies are paid to a company not residing in the City..
You point out you lived in a big City, if it was SOOOO GOOD why did you leave and now trying to spread your poison by trying to convince a few that TAXATION is better than providing your in town services? When you write your check to Verizon and Service Electric Marino, how good to you feel knowing their corporate office is located in another town PAYING THEIR POLICE, FIRE and other core services?
THANK YOU GERRY FOR POSTING THIS PARTICULAR POISON. It only solidifies how ridiculous you are and shows everyone WHY KUTZTOWN IS WELL AHEAD OF OTHER Municipals, Townships, cities.
You finally got one thing right. The Kutztown Leaders and decisions made are far ahead of the rest those other communities STRUGGLING TO EXIST. One point to clarify SCHOOL TAX is NOT paid to the BOROUGH OF KUTZTOWN. So when you prepare your fictional “facts” consider the real facts. Also, the citizens of Kutztown are smarter than YOU WANT the rest of the WORLD to believe. You are the one that needs to move on and find another place to call home. You OBVIOUSLY offer nothing but complaints but never a SOLUTION. Even as the former elected out of Office Mayor you failed to introduce ANYTHING in the way of “suggestions” or “changes”.
Check out not only Reading, but check out Allentown, Bethlehem, Scranton and the list goes on and on, NOTHING BUT TAXES to pay for services and SERVICE MONIES paid by residents to companies that reside in OTHER BIG CITIES, again, PAYING someone else's Police Fire etc...
So, why did you leave the "BIG CITY"? and why are you applauding the City of READING?
Ask the people of Reading, would you rather write your check to the City to pay for services and keep taxes lower or continue to fund OTHER BIG CITIES?
You stepped on your own crotch this time Gerry.
Mr Marino.
I looked back into my checkbook and I don't see a check to the Borough of Kutztown for $4200. You state that we pay the Borough $4200per year.
When did you make your payment and who did you write your check too?
I am nervous that I have not been billed properly and don't know what to do. If I contact the Borough I might get a bill I can't afford to pay.
Mr Marino, can you be more specific about the payment you made?
I am confused and concerned that as resident I may be in arrears.
Concerned Senior Citizen of Kutztown Borough
Again I repeat how can a Borough of 5,000 people spend almost 6 times as much money in a year as a City of 80,000? It has nothing to do with the names of the communities, it is plan arithmetic.
I do not complain in my blog I point out how the Borough Council is not spending our Borough revenue wisely. The last comment, as usual anonymous, is from a Borough Official who states the Borough revenue stays in the Borough. How can the revenue stay in the Borough with all the high salaried appointed officials and the large fees paid out for Hometown Utilicom that loses $1 million a year. Why doesn't some one in the Borough with an official title or a name dispute the loss and publish a financial report on HU which has never been done. The finances of Hometown Utilicom are conveniently and illegally combined with the General Fund and the Electric Fund to hide the fact that HU is a losing proposition. Please check my facts and figures and comment with your name and address as I do. Thank you for your interest. Jerry
Sorry I forgot to point out that the Borough Debt is $14 million and the payment averages $25,000 a week which DOES NOT STAY in the Borough. Again please check my figures.
Once again Cherry, answer the question posed, when did you write a $4200 payment to the Borough? What year? Payable to who?
come clean now. WHEN ?
Borough Official
Why doesn't the boro "come clean"?
More important than anything, why does the Borough Official not sign his name.
I do not sign my name because I donot want the people in power to do every thing they can to make my life miserable.
C H I C K E N - FOOLS
"I do not sign my name because I donot want the people in power to do every thing they can to make my life miserable."
How ignorant can you be to think the BOROUGH HAS SO MUCH POWER!.
I D I O T coward, this is not the ROARING 20's
I've seen this boro in action (and their so called politicians). Long time residents get away with out permits fees and such (as the boro turns their heads) and newbees get nothing but harassed about minor issues.
THE QUESTION REMAINS;
IS ALL THAT $$$ FROM KUTZTOWN'S RESIDENTS BEING USED WISELY, EFFICIENTLY WITH NO SECRET BACKROOM STRINGS/DEALS ATTACHED?
Yo Yo Yo Marino! So you want Kutztown to be run like Reaging Eh!!
MONDAY OCTOBER 15, 2009 READING EAGLE
"STUDY FINDS CITY DISTRESSED"
and
"READING MAKES APPLICATION FOR A STATE DECLARATION AS A DISTRESSED MUNICIPALITY."
Yes Let's become an opperative Like Mr Marino would like to have. Let's become READING!!
To ANNONYMOUS Regarding
"THE QUESTION REMAINS;
IS ALL THAT $$$ FROM KUTZTOWN'S RESIDENTS BEING USED WISELY, EFFICIENTLY WITH NO SECRET BACKROOM STRINGS/DEALS ATTACHED?
Prove otherwise?
Have you investigated the surrounding communities and the cost of living? Once you answer this.
THEN ASK YOUR QUESTION
How can a City like Reading that spends $750 per resident a year be in distress and a Borough like Kutztown that spends $4200 per resident a year and the Mayor and the Borough Council say everything is fine?
Why not ask the Mayor and Borough Council They should know more than I do. Jerry
Council officials do know more than you do. That`s why they are in, and you are OUT!
Marino you Ding Bat, you answered your own question. $750 per resident and in distress. So what part of this don't you understand?
I know you have a fake degree but grade school economics, come on Man, wake up.
Marino I believe what these people are saying, and I am only trying to help you out here, they are saying that the people of Reading are not contributing enough to make their city work. It is common sense, $750 per home amounts to nothing compared to cost of running a city and city services. Since you are from a Big City as you state , you should know that the cost to operate is extensive.
Please stop the nonsense and stop scaring the senior citizens with your misstatements. I can't imagine half the seniors in Kutztown surviving in an environment like Reading.
Not sure, but why don't you move to Reading or out of Kutztown if you think its so bad?
Plain and simple, you are staying put so your own actions only support the fact that KUTZTOWN IS A GREAT PLACE TO BE A RESIDENT OF.
Get on the bandwagon Marino and stop rocking the boat.
yeah jerry....stop rocking the boat. just let the folks in charge run kutztown how they see fit! don't participate in the political process, don't ask questions, people who ask questions aren't welcome here. be a good senior and go play bingo would ya? hey that's good right....you're retuning money to the state!
funny thing is...reading is a great city, with a lot to offer. the people who are down on reading are a bunch of armchair hicks brainwashed by the media.
to those people on this board...get off your butt and go to reading. see the museums, cafes, the goggleworks, --great restaurants. what does kutztown have? mark's sandwich shop. gimme a break.
kutztown has plenty to offer but can learn a lot from neighboring cities like reading and allentown, not to mention phila and ny.
keep up the good work jerry, keep probing, keep documenting. when the &*()@ hits the fan at least someone will have a clue what's been happening.
Dear Jerry Marino;
I have been following your blog for quite sometime and I am a bit confused. The purpose of blogging is to create dialogue between the blog creator and the people responding. You seem to avoid answering questions posed to you. If you truly believe in what you are saying then why are you evading the questions asked of you? I mean the overall purpose of a blog is to create dialogue.
As an example, one of the recent questions asked of you is this, “When you write your check to Verizon or Service Electric, how good you feel. You are paying for services such as Police and Fire and such to other towns where these companies exist”.
I have asked myself this question and it is a question all Kutztown Residents should be asking themselves, it makes sense. By sending my payments to companies that reside in other towns I am in fact paying for someone else’s community services and lowering their overall tax because I am supplementing that community’s budget.
Of course I don’t expect an answer from you but to the rest of the Kutztown Residents that may be following this, ask yourself the same question posed above. Look at your Verizon and Service Electric Bill the next time you receive it, where are you mailing your payment to? How are you helping your own community by sending your money to some other community?
One good thing about this, I now see the errors of my way and know what I need to do come Monday morning. Actions do speak louder than words.
MJ Sullivan
To Citizens Patrol what impresses me about people like you is your ability to fault those in charge. Those in charge are there due to an election process. Those in charge are representing the contingency that elected them to make decisions. These are not appointed for life people but neighbors elected by their neighbors. So treat them with respect and support them after all we put them there.
Do you have any idea what a "distressed city" means? It means the State becomes involved to take over the city, Ya that's right. I feel for the people of Reading, Harrisburg has enough issues.
As far as Jerry is concerned, if he would quit fabricating and print the entire story and stop twisting the facts, there would be more support and followers. When you dig deeper into his statements you find they are misleading.
Case in point his recent postings. Yes the per person comparison to Reading is different but Jerry is comparing apples to oranges, he uses the capital debt of the utilities in his comparison and uses the property tax of Reading to compare against, why skew this only to have people find out he overstated to skew the picture. We use our utilities to lesson our property tax burden. Have you looked into and compared our property tax to Lehigh, Carbon and other Counties? Yes we have debt just like any large Commercial based operative would, but the debt is paid by the services sold. At least we get something in return for paying our monthly fees. the same cannot be said for other communities i.e. Reading.
Why haven’t either of you mentioned the recent Maxatawny fiasco of $150 per month for a sewer hookup fee? Imagine that Kutztown!
What do you think the result in Reading will be? You got it a MAJOR TAX increase and as we all know taxes are for life once put in place. I would rather get something back and purchase a service instead of a property tax increase.
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