Recycling Police

Every so often my social justice thermometer begins to ring like a fire bell.  Ding, Ding, Ding I can hear it, and I ask where is the focus people?

Today was one of those days.

 I have been in touch with our Town sanitation department incharge of town-wide recycling.  This past summer we switched from the blue 14 gallon bucket to inline recycling and received a large rolling recycling container.  Actually this is quite exciting as we, us taxpayers, will begin to save some serious amounts of money.  It's an easy equation, recycle and pick up is free; regular trash and we have to pay to have it hauled away.  With talking with the town today, our recycling tonnage is up 35% since August.  Back to the matter at hand.

In order to participate in this program, the Town had to supply to each of the residents/taxpayers a trash collection device like this pretty blue one.  Actually they offered three sizes, 95 gallon, 65 gallon, and 35 gallon.  Though this naive one, yours truly, couldn't tell the difference.  My community doesn't use trash containers, we have 12 yard dumpsters.

Fast forward - I receive a device and I assumed it is a 95 gallon one.   It's enormous, I couldn't fill it if my life depended on it.  We are suppose to put it out every other week.   The first collection day came by and I forgot. The second one, I was away, then finally at the third pickup (six weeks later) , the container is still not filled, but I put it out.  I'm now also noticing that I will not be able to get the car in the garage with this device in there.  I've torn apart the place, how to reorganize it, nope, not enough room.

So I called the Town, asked them if I could get a 65 gallon one instead as it is way too large and occupies too much space.  She explains that I have a 65 gallon one - geez louise - I then asked for a 35 gallon one.  The long and short of it, you have to get on a list, yadda, yadda, yadda.

Now it is October and the device is not switched out.  So I've been on the phone these last two days.  Nice folks at the sanitation department.  First I find out that I'm not on the list, so I'm put on the list - I'm #126!  There are 125 of my neighbors, actually 15 in my community, that are still waiting for a different size container. 

What comes out of these conversations, is that the 'recycling police' of the Town sanitation department needs to determine if these 125 people ahead of me are worthy of a smaller container?  Of the 12,000 plus households in Town - only 125 opps 126 folks (only 1%) are requesting a smaller size. I think to myself - are you kidding?

 I continued to break down the supervisor's logic and point why in the bigger picture these arguments don't hold trash.  His responses were genuine.  His comments indicate that  there were certain assumptions made by the Town and those assumptions that didn't take into account all type of living arrangements located here.  He began with if the Town gave some one a smaller one, then the Town would have to do it for someone else.  Yeah?  I'm confused, don't we want all to recycle?  I asked him how many more individuals have called in the last several weeks.  He indicated that not many.  (I feel like I'm doing skit from the three stooges)   Therefore, the solution is simple, take care of these few individuals and be done with it.  Mind me, I heard a laundry list of why we can't do things. 

I promised that I would attend the next Town Council meeting and speak out about this matter.  Later this week, I would be meeting with my neighbors and this item will be on the agenda. 

Before we hung up, he finally agreed that he would discussing this next week when his supervisor returns and would call me with their decision.  I thanked him, and with a little laugh, said that I'll be talking with him most likely before he calls me. 

Did we lose some perspective?

Debt, Deficit, Vote for who??

Who are you going to vote for?  Here in Connecticut, it's getting pretty mud slamming to say the least. In my opinion - what a waste of time, money, and there isn't a messge yet!

Wherever you are - you may wish to look at the list below as you consider the canidates that are up for election. 

This list came out from The Daily Beast.  Actually it is an interesting slide show - click here.   To do the math - take the state's "debt 2010" divided by its GDP (gross domestic product) 2009.  The higher the percentage,  the worse position the state is in. 

There was an interesting additional piece of information in this list.  It listed the current/upcoming Budget Deficit.  Remember the deficit  means that current year revenue for the state, taxes collected from You, less the state's expenditures for programs, salaries, medical, etc.  The B - you know it - is for billion.

How does a state improve it's numbers.  One way is to let business do more business - that way the state's GDP goes up.  Another way and in my opinion, most important, the state should not not have a deficit in the budget.  At the end of a budget year, if the deficit held true, that shortfall of money turns into debt.  Three states listed say they have no deficit - hmmm? 

Who are you going to vote for?  One question (of many) that hasn't been truly answered yet - what are financial and fiscal policies that are going to be reviewed and acted upon?  Remember, government doesn't make jobs - small businesses make jobs.

Here's the list - click here to see the original

1 - Rhode Island 21.54%  ------  Budget Deficit  0.395 B
2 - Massachusetts 20.73% ----- Budget Deficit 2.700 B
3 - Alaska 18.50%  ------ Budget Deficit 0.000 B
4 - Connecticut 16.69%  ------ Budget Deficit 5.100 B
5 - Montana 16.66%  ------ Budget Deficit 2.700 B
6 - Vermont 15.64%  ------ Budget Deficit 0.338 B
7 - New Hampshire 13.55%  ------ Budget Deficit 0.365 B
8 - West Virginia 13.09%  ------ Budget Deficit 0.134 B
9 - New Jersey 12%  ------ Budget Deficit 10.070 B
10 - New Mexico 11.93% ------ Budget Deficit 0.333 B
11 - Maine 10.77% ------ Budget Deficit 0.940 B
12 - Delaware 10.77% ------ Budget Deficit 0.377 B
13 - South Carolina 10.75% ------ Budget Deficit .130 B
14 - Maryland 10.74% ------ Budget Deficit 2.000 B
15 - Illinois 10.71% ------ Budget Deficit 13.500 B
16 - Louisiana 10.57% ------ Budget Deficit 1.000 B
17 - New York 10.45% ------ Budget Deficit 8.500 B
18 - South Dakota 10.27% ------ Budget Deficit 0.102 B
19 - Hawaii 10.17% ------ Budget Deficit 0.594 B
20 - Pennsylvania 9.84% ------ Budget Deficit 4.100 B
21 - Wisconsin 9.71% ------ Budget Deficit 3.400 B
22 - Missouri 9.28% ------ Budget Deficit 0.730 B
23 - Kentucky 9.20% ------ Budget Deficit 0.780 B
24 - Indiana 9.13% ------ Budget Deficit 1.300 B
25 - Washington 9.09% ------ Budget Deficit 1.200 B
26 - Mississippi 8.49% ------ Budget Deficit 0.716 B
27 - North Dakota 7.87% ------ Budget Deficit 0.000 B28 - Oklahoma 7.78% ------ Budget Deficit 0.725 B
29 - Idaho 7.68% ------ Budget Deficit 0.840 B
30 - Michigan (ratio not listed)
31 - Florida 7.59% ------ Budget Deficit 4.700 B
32 - California 7.30% ------ Budget Deficit 17.9 B
33 - Colorado 7.22% ------ Budget Deficit 1.500 B
34 - Oregon 6.90% ------ Budget Deficit 2.500 B
35 - Virginia 6.87% ------ Budget Deficit 1.300 B
36 - Alabama 6.60% ------ Budget Deficit 0.586 B
37 - Wyoming 6.37% ------ Budget Deficit 0.147 B
38 - Washington DC 6.27% ------ Budget Deficit 0.104 B
39 - Ohio 6.26% ------ Budget Deficit 3.00 B
40 - Iowa 6.22% ------ Budget Deficit 1.100 B
41 - Utah 5.89% ------ Budget Deficit 0.700 B
42 - North Carolina 5.81% ------ Budget Deficit 5.800 B
43 - Kansas 5.22% ------ Budget Deficit 0.510 B
44 - Arizona 5.00% ------ Budget Deficit 3.100 B
45 - Arkansas 4.5% ------ Budget Deficit 0.000 B46 - Nebraska 4.43% ------ Budget Deficit 0.329 B
47 - Minnesota 4.40% ------ Budget Deficit 4.000 B
48 - Georgia 4.01% ------ Budget Deficit 4.200 B
49 - Texas 3.69% ------ Budget Deficit 4.600 B
50 - Nevada 3.58% ------ Budget Deficit 1.800 B
51 - Tennessee 1.95% ------ Budget Deficit 1.000 B

Budget ! DEBT!!!

Hey all, the Town finally finished the budget - ugh 2.5% increase, rounding out our new year's budget at $97 million!  Mind you it is not a balanced budget.  Town Council will be applying a surplus of $2million to fund the budget.

Ahh you could say - what's the big deal?  It's a few dollars per capita.  In my opinion, I would have taken the surplus, apply it directly to capital improvements that have been delayed or invest the surplus in attracting more business (new tax payers) to town.  To fund a shortfall in the operating budget?  Shame on you Town Council!

At least the Library's budget will stay intact as it was originally submitted.  We will continue to have Saturdays open and Sundays in the fall/winter/spring .  The Lucy Robbins Welles Library will continue to deliver superior materials, programs and assistance to our residents.  I did a quick calcuation, just in the book circulation alone, the Library delivered over $8 million dollars of value to the town in just one year.

Other interesting information that came out from this budget season.  Newington's per capita debt for past construction projects is approximately $643/ person!  The state is averaging $2,139 per capita and the US Government isn't making getting older any easier.  It rings in at $13 Trillion by the time I finish typing this entry.  Per capita debt with a population at about 308 million folks, debt for the Fed's is approximately $42,000!!!  Mind you this is a moving target.  Just think that each new baby arriving today is saddled with just about $50K of debt.

Please pay attention to your government, Call your legislators, visit them at town meetings, let them know that this mounting debt must be controlled and raising taxes to fund poorly planned and unproductive spending is NOT the answer.

Lending Club

Well the October numbers are out - I've averaged about 12.45% for the month, that's an annualized rate. Not too shabby. So far, all notes that are in pay status are paying and I'm awaiting a few more notes to complete the funding activity.

What is this? It is P2P or Peer to Peer lending. Folks gather toghether at a site, pool their funds, and then lend their funds to folks that need loans. Why only let the credit card companies and banks and etc make all those exhorbitant rates. The site does the paper work, recieves a small percentage of the collections, and the lenders win, the site wins, and the folks that need loans win.

Lending Club is just one of those sites. In order to get a loan through them, you must have at a minimum a 600+ credit score and several other factors. LC has keep up their integrity and not let anyone come through the door. You, the borrower, are assigned an interest rate based on the amount (maximum is $25K) asked for and your credit history information. Then after you make your application, you wait up to a total of 13 days to find out of the Lenders will fund your loan. Some loans can fund in 48 hours, others go to the last minunte. If they do, then you'll have the money in a day or two. Of course, the lenders might not feel you are credit worthy and not fund your loan.

Just some currents statistics :
From May 2007 through today - LC funded 7,220 loans for a total of $65,389,575
LC denied 75,896 loans for a total of $711,131,686

There are lots more information - This is not an endorsement or a recommendation - see the small print. If you are interested, contact me here, and I'll send you a link that will get you a $25 bonus if you would like to sign up and take a look around. Or go to the site and in the referral code - put in - smartfinancing.

Interesting concept - Let's see how November turns out.

Heating .... It's becoming that time

Hope you have been enjoying the cooler weather we have had over the last couple of days. Pretty soon it will be the time to switch on your heating systems. Hopefully all of you have had your annual tune-up, and don't forget to put your airconditioner cover on!

I sometimes need to remind myself that it all falls into place sooner or later. This time last year I still owned my other condo. Now a year later, I've settled in here and lately have been thinking about decorating and making additional home improvements. But what to do first? Oh my goodness - there is so much. I made a list the other day outlining each floor. Don't get me wrong, it's looks fine, though I would like to get some color and architectual style into the place.

Then the phone rings - it's my heating contractor and wants to know if I want to have my furnace (a hydro / hot air system ) very inefficient and 22 years old, replaced? No problem, I don't know what I should do, and this really isn't the fun decorating stuff I refered to before. My system isn't the best as it uses the hot water to be the heat source for the heating. So I invite Ugo Digrazia over. Let me tell you about this guy. Off the boat from Italy, he's a hand shake kind of guy with more integrity than I have ever met in a contractor. He's an older fellow, has a great crew - funny thing is that I met his crew when they replaced my old furnace/air conditioner. Last year when this furnace blew up and he fixed it, his crew was still with him.

He looks, pokes around, upstairs and back down stairs, a few times over. We discuss the part about furnace, air conditioner, humidifier, the water heater and that there isn't a shut off and a drain if the heater breaks - no problem he says he'll take care of that too, and hook up the dehumidifer so that I do not have to dump a bucket of water. Then we discuss installing gas logs in the fireplace. As I told him, it's not for a heating source in as much as it is "for the romance". He laughed and winked with that Ugo twinkle in his eye. I would like to sit back and watch the fire for a bit - just relax for an hour or so on a cold winter night. Ok this is truly a luxury - but heck, it might not be as big a deal as most folks think. MOre on this later.

So with a little thinking, and I need to crunch some numbers - then of course there is the cost - a little ouch, yet it costs enough for the furnace to get me the full $1500 tax credit - COOL! For those you that are curious - he's suggesting a Carrier.

Anyway - While it is boring to replace the furnace - I surely don't wish to be out of heat, and I'd rather have efficient heat. PS it would take these items of the to-do-list.

this guy is funny - even for an accountant

lets be glad I don't sing! This is what happens after a long tax season. Hmmm Hey Mom do you still have my accordian?

Tax Time

While this blog is for my personal views - there is those times I'd like to get up on my professional soap box.

For those of you who receive a paycheck from your place of employment, you may have noticed a slight change, a small increase. This change reflects the Making Work Pay credit that was passed by Pres Obama.

While this is nice, actually several of my clients called with their results - any where from 58cents to $3 in their weekly check. That is about $24 to $144 for this year. I'm not sure that letting the people keep a few more $$'s in their paycheck will make the economic boom that the Congress and President is expecting.

One warning - if you, as a taxpayer, plan the amount of withholding during the year to insure that with the level of withholding and your estimate payments is equal or exceed the safe harbor amount - Be Aware - since your withholding is decreasing you will not meet the safe harbor payment level and will be subject to a late payment penalty.

Make sure you and your tax preparer are aware of this "little" difference. It may be great now, yet it won't be pleasant in the future.

Geez - what a party pooper! The honeymoon isn't long enough. For more information visit my website Patricia J. Foley, Certified Public Accountant for up-to-date tax information.

A New Era Begins

January 20th - every 4th year or so - some 54 to date - and we, the citizens of the United States, had our President sworned in.

It's a new era - while his speech wasn't riviting, it continued to "sell" the hope to the country and to it's citizens and those around the world. Hope is the only way to get us up, pull up your boot straps, and get to work. Whether you voted for President Obama or not, it's time to put aside the cranky whatevers, and begin to work to get ourselves fixed from the delimina we have arrived in.

The Congress is heavily at work, I'm expecting to see President Obama's 1st tax law (how we are now going to spell relief) by the 24th of February. It's going to have serious pork involved - so get out your pen and pencil - nope - get the phone number of your congress men/women and call their office! Make yourself known. THEY WANT TO HEAR FROM YOU!

Keep tuned - I'll be letting you know new "deals" that are going before the fed's and here in CT.

Really - though - call the people that are in office whether you voted for them or not,

It takes only one person to begin to create change - I hope you'll help us all out.