KUTZTOWN'S FINANCES

KUTZTOWN’S FINANCES 3-1-10
With the caps coming off the electric rates all the local electric companies are soliciting new subscribers and the cost of a KWH they are advertising is between 9 and 11 cents. My bills for November and December were 18.19 and 16.61 cents respectively.
The Borough’s Real Estate Tax rate increased from 1.2 mils to 2.8 mils in the last few years which means a house assessed at $100,000 had its tax increased from $120 to $280 annually.
The Borough also raised the Water and Sewer rates. The Borough also bills the Water and Sewer subscribers monthly rather than quarterly so they can spend it faster.
How long can the elected officials of this Borough spend $4,200 per resident annually and continuously raise all taxes, fees, permits etc. And with a debt of $14 million the yearly debt service is $1.2 million annually which means the monthly payment is $100,000 a month.
To add insult to injury on top of all these increases and the local electric providers price at 6 or 7 cents cheaper than the Borough, the Borough raised our rate 2.5% for recreation which was reflected in my latest bill.
After 7 years and about $400,000 squandered away on 2 computer firms the first combined Borough bill was 2 weeks late and does not adequately explain the charges.
The above is just the tip of the iceberg, and all of the above increases are necessary to finance Hometown Utilicom which still loses $1 million a year and pay Borough Manager Khalife more than $100,000 a year and HU Director more than $80,000 a year to supervise it.
In my opinion the Borough is on the verge of bankruptcy and all of the internal departments transfers of funds for rents, fees, services, etc. along with altering the foremen’s reports are illegal and the Mayor, the Borough Council, some Borough Management employees, the Borough Auditors and Borough Solicitors are all aware of what is going on. I state again there has never been a complete financial report on the Telecom Business venture and the facts about the HU- Apex fiasco have never been made public.
Has Apex paid the tapping fees and other obligations to the Borough?
I have much more to say, I will be right back because the elected officials of this Borough are mandated to explain to the residents what is going on with our money.
Sincerely Jerry
409 West Main Street
Kutztown, Pa 19530
610-683-7977
kmayor@ptd.net
website www.marinoreport.com
Comments welcome. Thanks

BOROUGH CODE MEANS NOTHING

Borough Code Means Nothing 2-2-10
Recently there was an article in The Reading Eagle that stated the Reading City Council held two Council Meetings that violated the Sunshine Laws. The City Solicitor approved of the meetings knowing that they were illegal. The article also stated that there were no penalties for the violations.
This is no surprise because there are no penalties for many Borough Code violations. One very obvious example is the Borough Code states that the Borough Audit must be made public 90 days after December 31. There is no penalty if it is not made public in 90 days. Kutztown has violated the Borough Code many times and the Attorney General, Auditor General, the District Attorney, the DCED and the Ethics Commission will not investigate any complaints.
The Borough has awarded contracts with rigged or no bids and no signed contracts. The Borough continuously transfers funds illegally within the Borough Departments. The Borough also falsifies the Budget, publishes fraudulent financial reports and alters foremen reports. Also why does a citizen have to go to the Right to Know Law Office to obtain information that should be published periodically?
No Law Enforcement Agency will look into these violations because all the Boroughs, Cities and Townships are violating the laws. And if a citizen wants to take a municipality to court for information they would have to retain and pay a lawyer.


Gennaro A. Marino P.E.
610-683-7977
Kmayor@ptd.net
www.marinoreport.com

Derrick Mace, Open letter to

Derrick Mace Councilman, an open letter to Gennaro A. Marino P.E.
February 1, 2010 409 West Main Street
Kutztown, Pa 19530
610-683-7977
Website www.marinoreport.com
e-mail kmayor@ptd.net
Councilman Derrick Mace
Kutztown Borough Hall
45 Railroad Street
Kutztown, Pa 19530
Councilman Mace,
Congratulations and best wishes on your being elected Councilman of the Borough of Kutztown.
This is a wonderful Town to live in, but the spending by Mayor Green and the Borough Council is out of hand. I would like to familiarize you with what is happening in the Borough that you will be part of.
In the January 20, 2010 Morning Call there was an article about electricity rates available in the PPL serving area. They were per KWH:
PPL Electric Utilities 10.45 cents
Gateway Energy 9.35 cents
Dominion 9.40 cents
MXenergy 9.93 cents
Direct Energy 9.49 cents
ConEdison Solutions 9.95 cents

My rate for Nov. was 18.19 cents
My rate for Dec. was 16.61 cents and in the summer time when I use less Electricity my rate is 20 cents per KWH. Being the Borough owns our electric company residents are compelled to purchase their electricity from the Borough, therefore the Borough can charge as much as they please.
There are many reasons for the Borough charging such a high rate and the following are a few:
1) To finance Hometown Utilicom, a business venture, which loses about $1 million a year
2) To repay the Borough Debt which is about $14 million
3) To pay Borough Manager Khalife’s salary of more than $100,000 plus benefits
4) To pay HU Director Caruso’s salary of more than $80,000 plus benefits
5) To replace funds transferred illegally from Water and Sewer Funds to Hometown Utilicom
6) To pay for illegal contracts
7) To pay for the financial fiasco with the Apex Housing Project
The Borough according to the Borough Code may use funds from the Electric Fund for Borough use, but the Borough lumps funds from the Electric Fund, the General Fund and HU to hide the financial status of HU. There has never been a complete financial report on HU which has been existence since 2002.
For your information in the past I have accused the Borough of falsifying the budget, publishing fraudulent reports, awarding illegal contracts and altering foremen’s reports and I have never received a reply. The Borough Solicitors and Auditors are aware of my letters and accusations.
Please familiarize yourself with the legislation before you vote on it And again I wish you luck.

Sincerely,


Gennaro A. Marino P.E.

ELECTED OFFICIALS SHOULD BE HEARD

ELECTED OFFICIALS SHOULD BE HEARD January 17, 2010
The latest news about the Maxatawny- Kutztown Sewer Treatment Plant is that they are still begging the County Commissioners to appoint a seventh member to the Authority that will oversee the Plants operation. It seems that the elected officials of the Borough and the Township are no where to be found. This time it is the Kutztown Borough Solicitor Timothy Dietrich and the Township Solicitor Jill Nagy who are doing the begging. Since when do municipal Solicitors negotiate to establish policies or decisions? Kutztown Borough Council President Malcolm Eidle, his colleagues and the Township Supervisors have been dealing with this fiasco for at least 8 years and none of them have the courage or knowledge to approach the County commissioners.
This is a very controversial project that is opposed by many residents. Some residents were told if they do not honor Township requests they would increase the costs which would be passed on to them later.
The Borough and the Township have kicked this project around for 8 years and have watched and helped the cost go from $4 million to over $9 million.
To my knowledge the Borough and Township have never agreed on anything and they know they will not agree on the plants operation, therefore they need a scapegoat to settle all the tie votes.
The Commissioners are right in not naming a seventh member and becoming involved in local politics.

Jerry

LETTER TO READING EAGLE EDITOR

January 11, 2010
Gennaro A. Marino
409 West Main Street
Kutztown, Pa 19530
610-683-7977
e-mail kmayor@ptd.net
The Reading Eagle Editor
Dear Editor,
How can Governor Rendel and the State Legislators reach an agreement on a Budget when the Borough of Kutztown received State grants of $632,000 for streetlights and $276,000 to restore the old railroad Station? Both projects were for the beautification of the Borough because there was nothing wrong with our streetlights and restoring the railroad station was not necessary at this time of financial crisis.
How can the Commonwealth contemplate cutting services to the public and laying off state employees after squandering over $900,000 on beautification projects?
It is a disgrace that the State Budget can not be balanced without casino gambling revenue.
It is time for state and local elected officials to start spending our taxes wisely on essential services to the public and stop squandering them on unnecessary projects.
Gennaro A. Marino
Kutztown Resident
I faxed this to the Editor today.

Kutztonian 12-28-09

December 28, 2009
Gennaro A. Marino P.E.
409 W. Main St.
Kutztown, Pa 19530
610-683-7977
e-mail kmayor@ptd.net
Kutztown Borough Council
Mayor Green
Borough Officials
45 Railroad St.
Kutztown, Pa 19530
Your Attention Please,
Saturday I received a copy of the Fall\Winter Kutztonian News in the mail. It was nice to see the article about Charlie Company being greeted after 9 months in Iraq. I noticed none of you were there. When I was Mayor I attended many homecomings and farewells of our troops at the Kutztown Armory.
The only other important article in the publication was about your favorite subject, billing the residents. The Kutztonian states and I quote “The Borough of Kutztown is about to simplify your life by taking unified billing one step further!” Isn’t this exciting news, Keith Hill, Eric Ely and Frank Caruso announced this in 2002. And it was news when Jaymes Vettraino awarded a $225,000 contract to a computer firm (New World Systems), without a public bid, from his hometown in Michigan that could not produce the billing. And wasn’t it news in May of 2008 when the Borough awarded a contract to Professional Computer Systems from Iowa for $185,000 to simplify the billing.
Here we are 7 years and $410,000 later and maybe we will have combined billing. Keith Hill and Frank Caruso announced that Hometown Utilicom would do this in 2002. This is another failure of HU and the Administration to complete what they start. It was also announced that in order for the Borough to receive desperately needed revenue from Water and Sewer they will be billed monthly rather than quarterly.
Borough Manager\Treasurer Gabriel Khalife and Information Technology Director Frank Caruso, who combined are compensated about $250,000 a year for their wages and benefits, are in charge of this Borough Business Venture Hometown Utilicom which, I repeat, loses $1 million a year.
This along with high utility rates and wild spending is why the Borough according to the Budget spends $4,200 a year per capita and The City of Reading that spends $750 a year per capita is according to the Commonwealth a distressed city.
I think it is time for you to realize that this wild spending must stop because you can not continue to raise taxes and utility rates and borrow money. The Borough debt is $14 million at this time and the debt service is almost equal to the Police Dept. Budget. I would appreciate a response to this letter. Thank you.
Sincerely,

Gennaro A. Marino P.E.

MERRY CHRISTMAS 2009

MERRY CHRISTMAS

&

HAPPY NEW YEAR

TO ALL

AND TO ALL A GOOD NIGHT