Still true after 7 years. Thank you Bob

Some things never change.  Change a few details, and this 7-year-old column sounds like it could be written today.  Citizens are still in the position of worrying about how high the cost of living has gone and what else can they expect in the future.  A few are already leaving town because it has become unaffordable - not the housing, they already owned a house - but the utility fees and others that eat away at their essential needs or standard of living.

Many people keep asking, what are we doing all of this for?  Why do we need such a glitzy Lake Grove, and isn't downtown fixed up yet?  Rather than continue on an expensive path, City Council should stop and ask themselves why the city is doing what it is, and what is actually needed or wanted.   All citizens need to know their finances and way of life are secure in Lake Oswego.

Lake Oswegans: Get ready to ante up

Lake Oswego Review

Created on Wednesday, 20 September 2006  | Written by Bob Harding | 

Get out your check books, Lake Oswego. In the near future, city council plans to saddle you with hundreds of millions of dollars of new public debt.

The city is already carrying a debt load of $59 million through six General Obligation Bonds, two Revenue Bonds and one recently refinanced Urban Renewal Bond. Last year, annual revenues exceeded expenses by about $8 million. But over the next few years immense new expenditures are planned.

Some proposed expenditures are:

o  In Lake Sewer Interceptor: $65 million.

o  Decommission Tryon Creek Sewer Plant: $45 to $125 million.

o  Break BES contract with Portland: $12 million.

o  Storm Water System Improvements: $20 million.

o  Community Center: $60 million.

o  Urban Renewal, Foothills: $20 million.

o  Urban Renewal, Lake Grove: $42 million.

o  Streetcar: $20 to $30 million.

Some of the new debt is unavoidable. Neglected for more than a decade, the failing sewer system can no longer be ignored. The main sewer line beneath the lake needs to be replaced at a potential cost of $65 million and our problems do not end there. Storm water improvements will cost another $20 million. Antiquated pipe system must be replaced and relocated, which may involve lowering the lake two years in a row.