Archive for March, 2009

(March 24, 2009) – - An open letter to all retired military people in Virginia Beach.

A question to the retired military people in Virginia Beach: Where are all you people?

Specifically, where are you in relation to the governance of Virginia Beach? What do you know of the decision making process and have you evaluated or even thought very much about the way our city council continues to spend your money?

A few questions for you:

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(March 13, 2009) – - Mayor Sessoms and members of council,

Several years ago, citizens requested that the Virginia Beach City Council develop a business plan for all projects in the Oceanfront Resort Area.

A business plan provides a vision of the final design and clear direction for all development and includes rigorous cost estimates and realistic expectations of the return on investment (ROI).

A comprehensive business plan: Must identify the major components of a revitalized resort area; state the costs of all projects (including the interest costs); and state the anticipated revenue. From this information, council can calculate the economic justification for the projects

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(March 9, 2009) – - Mayor Sessoms and members of Virginia Beach City Council,

As operating budget data has been available for many, many years so too has data for the Capital Improvement Plan (CIP), as well as data for the revenue streams. First, a brief review of the CIP and then a review of the revenue sources and amounts.

Capital Improvement Plan

The city’s Management Resources document for fiscal year 2004 shows the estimated total cost for the six year time frame (2004/10) as $2.1 billion. The total amount appropriated in 2004 was $1.2 billion. By 2009, the estimated total amount for the following six year period was $2.3 billion with $1.1 billion appropriated. Based on the amount appropriated, council would spend approximately $220 million per year for various (CIP) projects.

There is a long list of CIP projects that will not be listed here. Suffice it to say that council is and has been aware of the capital improvement needs. It should not come as a surprise that these projects are awaiting on the books.

A headquarters hotel for the convention center and an entertainment venue for the Dome Site are planned and included in that list of projects. The Resource Management Plan of fiscal year 2009/10 states, “The Dome Site Development and Headquarters Hotel projects are also being pursued outside the budget process as a public/private partnership.” Read the rest of this entry »

Mayor Sessoms and Members of Virginia Beach City Council,

(March 3, 2009) – - For many years, you the City Council of Virginia Beach have consistently complained that you did not have the time to study the operating budget and analyze potential expenditures for each year‘s budget. Nonsense! Data for past operating budgets have been available for a decade or more for council to review at any time.

To demonstrate that the data for the operating budget and the number of full time employees for each department has been available for all those years, four departments had been arbitrarily selected. Data for the operating budget and the number of personnel will be presented.

Data from three sources are used: the Management Plan Executive Summary 2004, Budget Drivers 2006, and the report to council for the February retreat 2009. The data from the so-called Budget Drivers presented to council in 2006 also shows groups within the departments and lists budget and employees for each group. Read the rest of this entry »