Truth - Your Taxes Will Go Up
January 6, 2021
Amy Schingen gave this presentation on Sept 23, 2020 at the Fond du Lac City Council meeting where the council tried to pass a binding agreement committing the city to spend millions of dollars. Amy was responding to the full page advertisement that Lakeside Forward ran in the Action Advertiser on Sept 16th. You can see the ad below.
On September 16, 2020, Lakeside Forward paid to run this full page ad in the Action Advertiser. They were also running radio ads to promote the Alternative Master Plan.
In an email sent September 14, 2020 to Lakeside Forward, Joe Moore stated that #3 is incorrect: ” The city’s portion of the cost of improvements will have an effect on taxes.” He also talks about other inaccuracies in radio ads that were running at the time. In a return email, Lakeside Forward admits their ads are inaccurate and pulls them from the air. This full page print ad is not canceled.
Concerning Item #1 in the Ad, The Enhanced Agreement commits the city to spend $5.2 million. And Joe Moore quoted from the radio ad in his email, “As more area business step forward with financial backing, the remaining portion covered within the city budget will be reduced.”
In fact, the enhanced agreement commits the city to a “relatively equal extent.” and if the city cannot fund, the donors do not fund. The donors are NOT donating a “majority” of the cost (as stated in item #1) or reducing the city’s obligation as more donors step forward.
Concerning Item #2 in the Ad, we are told that the building has been moved to the west. There has been no amendment made to the AMP to show this has happened. In any case, the building still appears to be on the peninsula. The ad also states that the building has been downsized. It is difficult to know what this means when we do not even know the size of the original building! Where is it stated? The only specific published information on the size of the building is the mention in the Enhanced Agreement that 2000 sq ft will be community space.
Concerning Item #4 in the Ad, What exactly does “procedure would be in place with the city” mean? Normally, selecting a vendor is done through a competitive bidding process set out in city code. A Request for Proposal ( RFP) is issued. In the Enhanced Agreement there is no provision for the city to be involved in the sublease to the restaurateur.
Truth - Our taxes are going up and we don't know how much because there are no financial documents associated with the AMP.
Truth - Citizens need and deserve accurate information. We are shut out from the process. Decisions about a public park should be made in public.
We release information first to our email list. If you want to be the first to know, click on the button below and sign up for our list. We thank you for your interest in the facts of our cause. Help us spread the information out in our community!