City Elections: Jonathan Tietz on Financial Health

Patch recently asked the seven candidates running for New Port Richey City Council: "How do you define whether the city is “financially healthy?” What are your ideas for making sure the city meet that definition, if it hasn’t already?"

We also asked; "What’s your position on the ideas of cutting services, raising taxes or increasing fees as options for helping the city be financially healthy? What other strategies would you use?"

We got answers.

Here's what Jonathan Tietz had to say:

I define financial health as debt burden. The city is currently saddled with so much debt that the state may soon step in to determine the course of action if it gets any worse, which will be unpleasant for everyone. My long term plan for the city is to focus paying off the Recreation and Aquatic Center's remaining outstanding loan, which would free up about $600,000 in annual revenue, and apply that money toward other vacant commercial properties in the city. The next task is finishing the Main Street Landing project once and for all. Out of necessity we will need to continue at the current ridiculously high property tax rate for a few years while paying off these loans and projects, and then we can move toward investing in our neighborhoods and bonds which can start the city on the path to self-sustaining government which would mean drastically lowered or even non-existent property taxes. Lastly, I would like to focus on the city's utility department. Most of the city's revenue and staff are directed at our public works department in some capacity--from the city manager who negotiates its contracts, to the human resources department which manages its staff, to the finance department which collects its bills--which means that the utility fees should pay for all of this staff, not New Port Richey citizens directly. We can make the public works department self-sufficient by adjusting rates to city residents and non-residents appropriately to give residents a break on their utilities while making the system pay for itself.

I want to cut taxes. I'm not sure it is financially possible for the city right now. All that would happen is we would sink further into debt and just have to raise taxes again in a few years. We are at a critical juncture right now in the city's history. We must make the hard decisions and focus more on our utility program revenues, raising property values, and making our city government self-sustaining. If we don't act now New Port Richey just be another ineffective municipality in bankruptcy.

Find the other six candidates' responses to this question at our hub article.