The TUMF $60 Million Judgement is an Immediate Debt that Must be Paid from the General Ledger.
On August 11, 2016, Mike Busch from Urban Futures, presented the City’s ‘Workout Plan to Sustainability’.
The ‘Plan’ did not include the TUMF Judgement owed to the Western Riverside Council of Government, a bill that is now over $60 Million. Busch gave the following reasons for not including the Judgement as:
“The model does not include certain things. More specifically; any type of Judgement or Claims by 3rd Parties. More specifically; the WRCOG Judgement for two reasons. One; that’s still a negotiated and litigated item. Secondly; it’s not a general fund obligation. We focused primarily on the General Fund. Those are related to TUMF Fees, so we did not include those in the options that we looked at. “
Incorrect on both counts.
“that’s still a negotiated and litigated item.”
The Appeal is over. The only ‘negotiation and litigation’ going on is that the City must submit a plan for repayment that the WRCOG will accept by October 10th. If the City can not come up with an acceptable plan for repayment the WRCOG will get a Court Order, which will force the City to pay the Judgement in Full within 10 years.
“Secondly; it’s not a general fund obligation.”
Yes, it absolutely is an obligation of the General Fund. The City transferred the TUMF Mitigation Fees from the Mello Roos Bond Fund Accounts to the General Fund. The money was then either paid to Urban Logic or used to have parties and sponsor ‘events’.
The City also likes to claim that the General Fund is ‘$6 to $10 Million overdrawn’ and pretend that it’s a cumulative debt, but the City’s General Fund spent $6 to $10 Million year more than the general fund collected for at least the past decade.
The City’s General Fund Deficit is not $6 to $10 Million, it’s $60 to $100 million. The City of Beaumont refuses to hire honest Staff that will properly account for the finances and depends on instead continues to pay hundreds of thousands of dollars to tell them feel good stories.