How many votes does it take to get through to the final two, in a mayoral primary in Greensboro, North Carolina?

Why would one page of the City of Greensboro's 2012 Financial Report say $101.4 million, and another $273,932,356?

http://www.greensboro-nc.gov/modules/showdocument.aspx?documentid=18104

http://www.greensboro-nc.gov/modules/showdocument.aspx?documentid=18104

How many employees does the City of Greensboro employ?

http://www.greensboro-nc.gov/modules/showdocument.aspx?documentid=18104

2,990 as of June end 2012 according the City of Greensboro's CAFR.

From the city on their 457 retirement plan;

From a City of Greensboro information request;

Or, according to the City of Greensboro's proposed budget;

http://www.greensboro-nc.gov/modules/showdocument.aspx?documentid=20222

If the actual total is about 3,000, and the city says 3,128, at a $60,000 per employee cost;

128 x $60,000 = $7,680,000 difference.

Greensboro's Homeless, from the 2013/14 proposed budget

http://www.greensboro-nc.gov/modules/showdocument.aspx?documentid=20190

The city spent $257,915 on Homlessness Prevention in 2012/13.

The city plans to spend $147,915 less on Homlessness Prevention in 2013/14, even though there are 95 more homeless in our community.

What are the chances that Greensboro will have more homeless citizens from July, 2013, to June end 2014?

City of Greensboro Total Revenues; 2012/13 compared to proposed 2013/14 budget

This is from the budget Denise presented last night;

http://www.greensboro-nc.gov/modules/showdocument.aspx?documentid=20224

User Fees/Charges/Licenses; 2012/13 $170,248,671 - 2011/12 $163,913,451 = $6,335,220
more revenue from higher fees and parking ticket costs adopted in last year's budget?

All Other went way down between 2011/12 and 2012/13.     

This is the adopted budget from last fiscal year;



http://www.greensboro-nc.gov/modules/showdocument.aspx?documentid=15771

Last year's bottom chart adopted budget from last year said the city would spend $451,220,839.

Last night's budget said the city spent $458,774,515 in 2012/13.

$458,774,515 - $451,220,839 = $7,553,676 more than the city anticipated.

What the $7.5 million was spent on, and where did it come from?

Appropriated Fund Balance, 2012/13 as spent budget from the top chart; $24,498,492

Appropriated Fund Balance, 2012/13 adopted budget from the bottom chart; $28,524,867

(US$ 28 524 867) - (US$ 24 498 492) = 4.026375 million U.S. dollars

The city spent $4,026,375 more from savings than anticipated.

This says; "Appropriated fund balance amounts across all funds remain steady at $28.5 million."

Not exactly accurate.

How city staff played digtriad.com for chumps on Greensboro's budget numbers

 

"Greensboro's City Budget proposal for the next fiscal year not only includes tightening some purse strings in services, but also adds fees for you.
.
City Manager, Denise Turner Routh, presented her first budget to City Council members Tuesday night. The proposed budget is $459 million. It comes with $4.3 million in cuts across the board."
.
Dig

http://www.greensboro-nc.gov/modules/showdocument.aspx?documentid=15772

 

459 - 451 = 8

Air Cargo Volume Growth, Industrial Production, Chemical Volume Growth and Rail Traffic

http://macronomy.blogspot.com/2013/05/air-traffic-is-pointing-to-additional.html

http://macronomy.blogspot.com/2013/05/air-traffic-is-pointing-to-additional.html

"Over the past 13 years’ monthly data, there has been an 84% correlation between air cargo volume growth and global industrial production (IP) growth, with an air cargo lead of one to two months (second graph). In turn, this has translated into a clear relationship between air cargo and chemical industry volume growth" Nomura

Air Cargo and Rail Volume = Leading Indicators of Economic Growth

http://pragcap.com/rail-traffic-continues-to-soften-2

North Carolina’s April Employment Figures Reported in an Amazingly Misleading Way by AP and the GN&R

"North Carolina's unemployment rate fell to 8.9 percent in April _ the lowest in the state in four years.

The state's unemployment rate was 9.2 percent in March.

"This is very encouraging for North Carolina," said John Coleman, economics professor at Duke University's Fuqua School of Business.

...the number of people unemployed fell by 15,259 between March and April... and ...nearly 4,200 fewer people held jobs than in March."

GH; It's "encouraging" that there were 4,200 fewer jobs between March and April, as more dropped out of the workforce, bringing the unemployment rate down?

"January 2009 was the last time the state's unemployment rate was at 8.9 percent.

AP, as reported in the Greensboro News and Record
.
.
Problem is, North Carolina is still down 113,400 jobs since 2007;



http://www.epi.org/publication/ongoing-disaster-evident-states/

How is it possible that none of any kind of questions like these, or relative answers about incomes higher than $1,000,000, were never reported?

"Senate Tax-Cut Plan Would Add $857 Billion to U.S. Debt,"
or will the Tax Deal really cost at least $1,472.92 trillion?

$857 Billion @ 4% x 30 years = $1,472.92 trillion

$857 Billion @ 5% x 40 years = $1,983.56 trillion

$857 Billion @ 6% x 50 years = $2,706.77 trillion

$857 Billion @ 7% x 75 years = $4,523.35 trillion

If Bill Gates and Warren Buffett make about 5% on dividends and 5% on capital gains on about $100 billion, did they stop by the White House to thank Obama for giving them what could be an extra $1,477,351,600 over 2 years, by charging America's children about $1,600 a piece?

If about 1,699,000 US households make more than $250,000, and their portion of the tax cuts cost $120 billion, did America’s elected leaders charge everyone’s kids $1,600 each to extend George W. Bush's tax cuts to give Bill Gates and Warren Buffett about $1,477 billion?

$120,000,000,000 / 75,000,000 Kids = $1,600 per American Child?

If Mitt Romney is worth at least $190 million and makes about 5% of dividends and 5% on capital gains, did he bring in an extra $5,656,178 by charging America's children about $1,600 a piece to extend George W. Bush's tax cuts?

If US Senator John McCain (R-Ariz.) was worth about $19.64 million in 2008, about how much did he vote himself to extend George W. Bush's tax cuts?

If Us Senator Jay Rockefeller (D-W.Va.) was worth about $80.40 million in 2008, about how much did he just vote himself to extend George W. Bush's tax cuts?

Did Virginia Senator Jim Webb explain why he voted to charge each and every US child about $1,600 each to give US congressman Darrell Issa about $1.3 million in Tax Cuts by extending George W. Bush's tax cuts?

How did California US Senator Barbara Boxer explain how she voted to charge each and every US child about $1,600 each to give Rush Limbaugh what could have been about $15 million in Tax Cuts by extending George W. Bush's tax cuts?

Did North Carolina Senator Richard Burr explain why voted to charge each and every US child about $1,600 each to give Britney Spears what looked like a $6 million in Tax Cuts over two years?

Did Senator Charles E. Schumer explain why he voted to charge each and every US child about $1,600 each to give New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg what looked like $295 million in Tax Cuts over two years?

Remember when Mayor Bloomberg told the rest of America to "suck it up"?

From "A Citizen's Guide to the 2012 Financial Report of the U.S. Government"

http://www.fms.treas.gov/frsummary/frsummary2012.pdf

"...the largest contributors to the Government’s net cost in FY 2012, as is the case in most years, include the Departments of Health and Human Services (HHS) and Defense (DoD) and the Social Security Administration (SSA). The bulk of HHS and SSA costs come from major social insurance and postemployment benefits programs administered by those agencies (e.g., Medicare for HHS, and Social Security for SSA)."

"It is estimated that preventing the debt-to-GDP ratio from rising over the next 75 years would require some combination of expenditure reductions and revenue increases that amount, on average, to 2.7 percent of GDP over each of the next 75 years. The timing of changes to noninterest spending and receipts that close this “75-year fiscal gap” has important implications for the well-being of future generations."

http://www.fms.treas.gov/frsummary/frsummary2012.pdf

GREENSBORO CITY COUNCIL FOLLIES: RE-DO

"Score a win for Greensboro blogger George Hartzman, whose Socratic tirades in front of city council can sometimes come across as hyperbolic. Hartzman vocally questioned whether Mayor Robbie Perkins should be voting on an economic incentives payout to a Park View Development, the business entity for Center Point — for which Perkins serves as a listing agent in his role as a commercial real estate broker — at an April 3 council meeting.

Perkins also happens to live in the building.

Maybe it’s Hartzman’s history of repeated and numerous allegations that led interim City Attorney Jamiah Waterman to rule during the April 3 city council meeting that Perkins had no conflict of interest. Three days later Waterman was eating his opinion: “Upon further review, it can reasonably be argued that Mayor Perkins was subjected to a potential financial detriment, e.g. the potential loss of his real estate listings with Park View Development LLC. As such, I am revising my prior opinion to reflect that Mayor Perkins appears to have an impermissible conflict of interest in this matter.

While the item passed unanimously, I am recommending that: (1) on April 16th the city council votes to excuse Mayor Perkins from this item; and (2) the remaining disinterested council members vote on the amendment to the general fund budget.”"

Jordan Green

From 2009

City of Greensboro Audit Committee and the minutes from the last meeting, on October 27, 2011

http://www.greensboro-nc.gov/index.aspx?page=3081

http://www.greensboro-nc.gov/modules/showdocument.aspx?documentid=12118

"The Audit Committee of the City of Greensboro has been established to assist the City Council in fulfilling its financial and fiduciary responsibilities and will adhere to practices for an audit committee enumerated by the Government Finance Officers Association.

In fulfilling that purpose, the Audit Committee shall:

Review financial information provided by others

Ensure the City establishes and maintains effective internal control systems for accounting, financial reporting, and legal compliance matters

Provide an open line of communication among the City Council, city management, internal audit and the independent outside auditors, the public, and report directly to the City Council"
.
.
The Audit Committee, to the extent it deems necessary or appropriate, shall:

Submit an Annual Report of Audit Committee actions and recommendations to the City Council.

Monitor compliance with the City code of conduct and regulatory requirements, and review and assess conflicts of interest and related-party transactions.

Review financial information relevant to the purpose of the Committee.

Oversee the investigation and disposition of any suspected cases of fraud or irregularity.

Identify and evaluate significant judgments and estimates used by management in the financial reporting process.

Evaluate and recommend significant changes in the City’s financial accounting principles and practices.

Ensure that appropriate actions are taken to strengthen the City’s administrative or financial practices, where necessary.

Review the impact of major changes in financial accounting and reporting laws, regulations, and standards on the City’s financial policies, procedures, and practices.

Adopted July 28, 2011
.
.
BY-LAWS OF GREENSBORO AUDIT COMMITTEE Amended January 26, 2012

A regular meeting of the Committee shall be held annually at a time to be designated by the Committee.

All meetings will be open to the public, to the extent required by North Carolina General Statute 143-318.10.

http://www.greensboro-nc.gov/modules/showdocument.aspx?documentid=18040
.
.
Government Finance Officers Association Best Practices;

•The audit committee should establish procedures for the receipt, retention, and treatment of complaints regarding accounting, internal accounting controls, or auditing matters.

•The audit committee should be adequately funded and should be authorized to engage the services of financial experts, legal counsel, and other appropriate specialists, as necessary to fulfill its responsibilities

•It is the responsibility of the audit committee to provide independent review and oversight of a government’s financial reporting processes, internal controls and independent auditors

Unanswered City of Greensboro Information Request on Action Greensboro's multiple $150,000 taxpayer allocations

The initial information request; "Please provide an accounting of Action Greensboro's use of $150,000 per year for water features at center city park, and how much has been returned that was not used, per the contract with the City of Greensboro." and "What has Action Greensboro been spending $150,000 per year on for how long?"

The taxpayer funded maintenance agreement with the Bryan Foundation’s Center City Park in front of Roy Carroll’s Center Point states "An additional $150,000 allocation shall be made" which "shall be used, as necessary, for the extraordinary expenses… such as those associated with the operation and maintenance of the fountain and water features" and "Any balance of said …Tax Distribution funds may be used for normal Park expenses.”

Action Greensboro had $2,329,248 in Cash and CD's as of December 31, 2011.

Action Greensboro/Center City has also so far declined to identify what funds over multiple years have been repaid to the City.

This is what was sent by Mary Vigue, Greensboro's Assistant Manager for Internal Audit, on May 16, 2013, after being written on March 28, 2013, after months of asking without response;

Observations and questions;

I asked for all the years handling of the money, which goes back farther than what was looked at by Len Lucas, Internal Audit Director.

I spoke with Chris Wilson, Parks and Recreation Director, and he didn't know anything about it, as the letter above says "No Response Required".

Of the $200,000 mentioned above, DGI receives a "management and Overhead Expense" of $27,150.

How many other Greensboro parks pay kickbacks to DGI?

What have been the "extraordinary expenses"

How long has Action Greensboro been receiving the money?

What were the expenditures tested for?

If FY 2012/13 expenditures have so far only covered about half of the $150,000 allocated through March, and the fiscal year ends at the end of June, how much is expected to be returned to the city, and how much was/should have been returned in earlier years?

I have asked for a meeting with Chris Wilson, Len Lucas, Mary Vigue and Action Greensboro's April Harris to flesh this information out.

I have not received a response.

Dear Littler Mendelson, OSHA/DOL, Wells Fargo, SEC, FINRA etc...; We Are Not Alone, Current Media Edition

About Current Media

Conclusion; Wells Fargo Advisors LLC / Hartzman / 4-3750-13-010

At a meeting with US Congressman Howard Coble on Monday, I told him I would be putting this up. BB&T included

On Whistleblower Protections and Wells Fargo's violation of George Hartzman's anonymity

If Greensboro's Assessed Valuation per Square Mile only went up 1.84% from 2006 to 2012...?

http://www.greensboro-nc.gov/modules/showdocument.aspx?documentid=17239

...why did Guilford County Property Tax Assessments on residential real estate rise 1.5%, after housing prices crashed?



Source: Don Jud, UNCG

Notice the 2006/2007 home prices were by far higher than at any time since the 1990's.
.
.
"Greensboro’s available property valuation growth, measured both in terms of per capita and per square mile, is the lowest among peer cities for FY 2011-2012 compared to FY 2006-2007.

...assessed value of all taxable property per square mile has only increased by 1.8% compared to peer cities that have seen increases of 8-42% in FY 2011-2012 versus FY 2006-2007. In FY 2011-2012 the City of Greensboro had the second lowest assessed valuation per square mile of all the comparison cities and the lowest percentage increase of assessed valuation per a square mile of all five cities."

http://www.greensboro-nc.gov/modules/showdocument.aspx?documentid=17239
.
.
If Forsyth County/Winston Salem, North Carolina's tax assessed values fell about 8% between 2009 and 2013, how did Guilford County/Greensboro values rise 1.5% between 2004 and 2012, as the City of High Point's property assessments fell 3%?

The City of Greensboro's 457 Retirement Plan, Its Stable Value Fund, and How to give City Employees a Raise

As of December 31, 2012, there was $79,494,486.39 invested by the City of Greensboro's employees in their 457 retirement plan;

457 plans are similar to 401(k) and 403(b) retirement savings plans.

A 457 plan is a non-qualified tax advantaged deferred-compensation retirement plan for the City of Greensboro's employees. 

Greensboro's government provides the plan and employees defer compensation into it on a pre-tax basis.

At first glance, Greensboro's 457 looks like it's paying an annual fee of $143,291.72;

But 49% of the plan is invested in the VantageTrust Plus Fund, otherwise known as a Stable Value Fund;

 

The VantageTrust Plus Fund's Objective;

The expense ratio for the VantageTrust Plus Fund is in addition to the $89,168.05 above.

I met with City of Greensboro staff Friday to go through this information. It is not their fault that they did not know this.  It is my industry's fault for not telling the people in charge of doing right by their employees fault for not telling them about what they should have known but didn't.

As can be seen below, and semi-confirmed by city staff, the VantageTrust Plus Fund charges .81% on top of $89,168.05 charged above.

38,800,959.85 x .0081 =  $314,287.77

All the other funds in the plan also have underlying expenses, like the VantageTrust Plus Fund, some of which get kicked back to the retirement plan provider.

The returns about "assumes a 0.55% management fee, which "an Employer may negotiate"

The City of Greensboro's Plan sounds like they're paying 0.81%, plus $89,168.05.

$89,168.05 + $314,287.77 = $403,455.82 for 49% of the plan, meaning ICMA actually looks like it's making about 1.04% on just their Stable Value Fund, not counting any of the other funds in the plan.

The following is from the agreement between ICMA and the city;



This is what legal kickbacks sounds like that are not included on fund fee disclosure disclaimers;

In a nutshell, the above wording means ICMA makes money on the back end through City of Greensboro employee funds that were very poorly disclosed to the city's employees by ICMA.

What big print can give, fine print can take away.

If the fees are negotiable, and city staff negotiates the VantageTrust Plus Stable Value Fund down to 0.25% instead of 0.81%;

0.56% x  38,800,959.85 = a $217,285.38 raise per year for City of Greensboro employees invested in the city's ICMA 457 Retirement Plan's VantageTrust Plus Fund.

Again, the likelihood for Greensboro city staff to have known about this issue is relatively small, because my industry has been misleading retirement plan sponsors for decades on how fees are accumulated by brokers and providers.

At an average return of 3% per year, $217,285.38 turns into about $10,647,565.55 after 30 years, meaning lowering the actual fees charged for about half of the City of Greensboro's 457 plan and compounding could put about $10,647,565.55 more into the pockets of taxpayer funded employees, which is essentially giving them a raise.

Conclusion; Wells Fargo Advisors LLC / Hartzman / 4-3750-13-010

From Greg's book;

 

 

Number one; Yes

 

Number two; Yes

 

Number three; Yes

 

 

Sincerely,

George Hartzman

May 8, 2013

 

Enclosures are the following links 

As Greensboro spent more than $2 million last night not included in the budget, these are some of the proposed offsetting cuts

http://www.greensboro-nc.gov/index.aspx?page=2790

School crossing gaurds, Increased fees, closing Greensboro Sportsplex

On TREBIC and Illegal Lobbying

http://edcone.typepad.com/files/trebic-2010-990.pdf

Question 3 on page 3 isn't true.