Garrett Harris 10:11 p.m., May 23
Garrett Harris 9:48 p.m., May 23
Don Bauder 8:42 p.m., May 23
Lucy D. Barker 6:13 p.m., May 23
Shelli DeRobertis 2:14 p.m., May 23
Settlement reached in City's lawsuit over downtown assessment district's errant engineer's report
Perhaps the citizen that first noticed the errors in the PBID assessment roll should be given a "whistle blower" bonus. If a citizen had not noticed the errors in the PBID assessment roll, thousands of San Diego residents would still be getting incorrect assessments and a lawsuit never would have been filed. It is unfortunate that the agency paid for over site of the current 10 year PBID contract didn't notice any errors. I guess they didn't believe that looking at the assessment roll was part of their job.— April 15, 2013 8:42 a.m.
Let’s Assess the Assessments
It wasn't only $10,000 in January. LiMandri has been paid $10,000 every month since May of 2011 with Public money. His invoices list a few "consulting" tasks each month. A lot of graffitti and trash could be picked up with this money.— April 25, 2012 1:31 p.m.
City to Implement "Pay First, Litigate Later" on Disputed Tax Assessments?
Almost 3 years ago it was discovered that several thousand downtown residents were overcharged on their PBID tax assessment. I inquired about deducting the refund I was due from my tax bill. I was told that the 10% penalty and 18% interest would apply if I deducted the amount of overcharge. How long will people who are due refunds have to wait? An audit of PBID assessments was completed several months ago. It was supposed to show the amount that citizens were overcharged (and possibly undercharged). So far this audit remains a secret and no refunds have been issued.— April 21, 2012 10:18 a.m.
Clean and Safe Hires a Consultant
The UT article that announced that Kris Michell had been hired to become president of the Downtown San Diego Partnership stated that "Its board considered 50 candidates before voting unanimously to hire Michell." Did Ms. Michell advise the Downtown San Diego Partnership Board that she would be hiring a $10,000 per month consultant to enable her to do her job? She also hired a new Clean and Safe director, Ryan Loofbourrow, at a salary of $130,000 per year. This is $40,000 more per year than any previous director made. The new director also received a signing bonus of $1,600. Spending our PBID tax dollars isn't a problem for the Downtown San Diego Partnership. Accuracy in assessments and returning tax dollars collected in error is.— February 8, 2012 4:55 p.m.
Councilmember David Alvarez Says Community-Benefit Districts Will Help Galvanize Barrio Logan
Be careful what you wish for. Two and a half years ago it was discovered the the downtown PBID overcharged several thousand taxpayers thousands of dollars. The taxpayers still have not been told when their money will be refunded. The PBID was still able to hire Marco LiMandri as a consultant and pay him $10.000 per month.— January 28, 2012 1:04 p.m.
The Check Will Never Be In The Mail
How do you know if your PBID tax was calculated incorrectly? Look at your property tax bills. If the 2009/2010 tax listed as Downtown PBID is less than the 2008/2009 tax listed as Downtown Business I D, you were probably overcharged for the four years prior to your current tax bill. Kathy Casey— April 21, 2010 5:55 p.m.