I feel I have to give a short reply to Sven Miglin’s letter to the editor of April 30.

He indicates in the letter that I should understand the concept of responsibility and the fact that the buck stops with the mayor. He says the mayor and his council must take responsibility for the financial affairs of the municipality.

Well then, Mr. Miglin, that makes it perfectly clear, and I do understand that you, as the finance chairman who presented everything to do with finances to council, must then take responsibility for the financial situation that you and your mayor and council left the town of Huntsville in at the end of your six-year term.

I might also point out to you that, in researching the financial records of the town of Huntsville, the reserve balance at the end of 2006 was $4,974,000. However, unfortunately, there was unfinanced capital spending that you and council had approved on behalf of the town in the amount of $1,250,000.

When you take that off the reserve balance, as any good accounting practice would have you do, that brings the total reserves of the municipality to approximately $3,700,000 at the end of 2006. The 2008 reserve from the proposed town budget is approximately $4,371,000, thus the 2008 projected reserves will be approximately $670,000 higher than in 2006. And that, Mr. Miglin, will be a fact.

Other interesting things that I have discovered in reviewing the town’s financial statements and budgets are that in 2000, when your term began, the total revenue for the town was approximately $9.1 million. In 2006, the total revenue was in excess of $15 million. Mr. Miglin, you had an increase in revenue from Year 1 to Year 6 of almost $6 million.

There are many other interesting facts that the taxpayers of Huntsville should know, that took place during your time as the finance chairman of the town of Huntsville from 2000 to late 2006:

1)    Total taxes levied in 2000 were approximately $5.7 million. In 2006, they were approximately $8.0 million.

2)    During this same period of time, wages and benefits in the town went from $4.5 million to $6.5 million.

3)    During that same period of time, the cost to service our debt, or debentures, rose from $47,000 per year to approximately $600,000 per year.

In closing, I think these are facts the taxpayers should know, and these are issues that the present council has to deal with. Also, it would appear that the MTO building will be sold and it also appears that the River Mill Park will be completed in the near future at a net cost some $900,000 less than the previous proposed costs from the past council.

I hope some of the information that has been in the paper in the past few weeks will be helpful to the taxpayers of Huntsville.

Ron House,
Mayor, 1991-1997 - Huntsville