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- Subscribe - Contact Us - Rate Card - Place an Ad Archives Revels Classifieds Real Estate Menu Guide Wedding Weather Subscribe Contact Us May 13, 2005 AFN gets reluctant budget nod Three members of Citizen’s Budget Committee vote no By Vickie Aldous Ashland Daily Tidings Fed up with the Ashland Fiber Network’s continuing deficits, the three longest-serving members of the Ashland Citizens’ Budget Committee voted against AFN’s proposed budget, but were overruled by a committee majority. “For nine years I’ve voted for these budgets with the thought that things are going to improve,” said committee member Marty Levine, adding that he doesn’t believe recent decisions by the Ashland City Council to reorganize AFN will improve the situation. “I’m voting ‘no’ on this.” Jim Moore, chair of the budget committee, and David Williams joined Levine on Thursday night in voting not to recommend approval of the AFN budget. The budget committee is made up of residents and Ashland City Councilors who review the proposed city budget department by department and make recommendations as to whether the council should adopt the document. New resident member Lynn Thompson offered only half-hearted support for AFN’s budget after noting she is troubled by the prospect of “huge subsidies” continuing into the future. She also said she believes the reorganization will do little good. “I’ll vote yes — this year,” Thompson said. Thompson and new resident members James Bond and Kathleen Mackris voted in favor of the budget along with Councilors Russ Silbiger, Alex Amarotico, Cate Hartzell and Kate Jackson. Mayor John Morrison was absent due to a severe cold, Councilor Jack Hardesty is on vacation and Councilor Chris Hearn recently resigned to devote more time to his family and law practice. On Tuesday night, the council voted to hire a new AFN director who will be on par with other city department heads, in the hope that that person will have the independence and strength to make AFN more competitive. Current AFN and Electric Department Director Dick Wanderscheid will turn his full attention to the electric department. City staff members are still finalizing the budget impact of that vote, so budget committee members were working with preliminary numbers that will be finalized for their May 19 meeting. Prior to Tuesday’s meeting, Silbiger circulated a memo to councilors advocating the new director be hired on an interim basis while the city explores options for the future of AFN, which is projected to fall $3.8 million short by 2011 in being able to make payments on its 20-year $15.5 million loan taken out in 2004. Hartzell said the council is committed to Silbiger’s proposal to explore all options. Bond said the budget committee should support the council’s move to reorganize AFN. “The council is acting. It needs a budget. We recognize it is not a permanent solution,” he said. Moore said the voters ultimately should decide AFN’s fate. “We have to take this to the residents of Ashland. We are taking money from them,” he said, adding that although a handful of residents came to speak against AFN at Thursday’s meeting, more will complain when they see their electric rates rise to cover AFN’s shortfalls. “When their bills start coming in, I’m sure we’ll hear from them.” To close AFN’s deficits, the budget committee voted to use electric department money. Electric department carryover funds would be used at first, but electric rates would have to be raised to cover the deficits in a year or two, according to Wanderscheid. A rate increase of about 5 percent is expected this summer, but that is due to the increased cost of Bonneville Power Administration wholesale power rates and is unrelated to AFN. Electric rates are projected to fall in 2007, but any decrease could be eaten up by the need to subsidize AFN. Higher rates would then be instituted as wholesale power rates level off, Wanderscheid said. Resident John Gaffey, who is working on an initiative to have voters decide whether the city should sell AFN, said subsidizing AFN through electric rate increases would hit low-income residents the hardest. He said those residents are least likely to use the cable television and high-speed Internet services that would be subsidized through electric rates. The city would likely lose millions even if it sold AFN because the system probably could not be sold for enough to cover the $15.5 million loan, according to industry analysts. Resident Ron Roth said the city should consider spinning off AFN much as it did with the Ashland Community Hospital, though the city would likely lose money. DailyTidings.com Home Page Archives | Revels | Classifieds | Real Estate Guide | Weather | Subscribe | Contact Us Copyright 2005 Ashland Daily Tidings and Ottaway Newspapers All Rights Reserved Deep Muscle Stimulator Ceramic Piggy Banks FREE Entertainment Guide Women's & Men's Slippers Accelerate Weightloss Products Backpacks Generic Viagra Vegas Travel Guide Search Engine Optimization Sportsbook Absinthe Supply Student Loans Hotel & Airline Reservations African Safari Hammocks Helzberg Diamonds Online Casinos Community Bonus Casino King of Spirits ink cartridges Mortgage Calculator Security Systems Mailing Lists Click Here Advertisement .:Advertisements:. Site Search: RESOURCES - Mail Tribune News - ODOT Road Cams