New Lows In Milford Real Estate

Milford has conducted an annual report each year called the Comprehensive Audited Financial Reports (CAFR'S), and the asset side of those reports seems to defy conventional wisdom. While I am no economist, I do agree with firms like the Connecticut Economic Resource Center (CERC) and Real Estate think tanks like Trulia.   But to take into consideration the 2006 CERC, the year our property assessments began, Milford had a reported grand list of  10.2B. Today, just Five years later that number has plummeted to 7.4B.  There is nothing more enigmatic and perplexing than the CAFR figures, of which indicate the assets held by the city of Milford have appreciated Apx. 35% during a period where the Grand List has been getting decimated.

Something does not add up, something does not make sense, because no one I know has had that kind of asset appreciation in the last five years and it is yet to be explained to us as to how how we arrived at such an amazing figure in the wake of mass property devaluations and city debt growing to nearly 300M during this period. Trulia had this to say about Milford, and to be fair many other communities as well.

"The median sales price for homes in ZIP code 06460 for Jun 11 to Aug 11 was $204,540. This represents a decline of 14.1%, or $33,460, compared to the prior quarter and a decrease of 22.5% compared to the prior year. Sales prices have depreciated 36.3% over the last 5 years in 06460, Milford. The median sales price of $204,540 for 06460 is 5.34% lower than the median sales price for Milford CT. Average listing price for homes on Trulia in ZIP code 06460 was $465,668 for the week ending Sep 07, which represents an increase of 0.1%, or $465 compared to the prior week and an increase of 4.4%, or $19,742, compared to the week ending Aug 17. Average price per square foot for homes in 06460 was $153 in the most recent quarter, which is 12.57% lower than the average price per square foot for homes in Milford."

Moving forward into the next election, it appears that the Republicans and Democrats are both acting reckless, ignoring the city debt and instead spending taxpayer money we do not have. Just in the past few months, as the interest on our nearly 1/3 of a Billion dollars in debt was growing they were giving away money. This was 26K to a Trash Museum, an estimated 550K given away in permit fees, proposing the reopening Simon Lake at a substantial cost estimated close to 1M, and of course pardoning late fees and interest on property taxes to all veterans serving in wars.

While no one doubts that charity is essential in our community, we are moving in a direction that crosses the line of the responsibility of local government. My personal opinion is that the money is all ours, its paid for by each of us and when that money falls short we have to reach in our pockets a little deeper. This is the never ending paradox of taxpayers funding what amounts to socialism or as Obama put it "the redistribution of our wealth."

Elections, and election season is always disconcerting and part of me feels like elected officials who run for political office should step down from their previous posts while campaigning. This year I have seen such egregious abuses of the city treasury by both candidates that its disheartening. The amount of allocations made for political purposes is in my opinion an abusive and aberrant practice that should be stopped in all future elections.

While everyday I work hard to remind both Republicans and Democrats that our priorities should be to pay off the city debt before funding any pet projects or non essential expenses, everyday I am dismissed as a enigmatic insane platitude to be ignored. Sadly at the end of the day, when we expect to see progress we instead learn that the population of Milford is declining and our real estate values are plummeting.  Who will be held accountable when we reach our climax and eventual epiphany?

Sadly its going to be all of us, those who just want to be left alone, to live in our homes, drive our cars and enjoy our television shows. It will be those apathetic young people who did not vote this election, their parents and the reality that they are slowly falling farther and farther behind on their expenses. Who will be held accountable, it will be you the person who lives and pays those unreasonable ever increasing taxes that continue to fund socialism and an endlessly growing debt. Its time to wake up and vote Independent!

Americas Credit Downgrade and Municipal Risk

When Standard and Poors downgraded the United States they did not just teach the Washington spendthrifts a lesson, they sent a message to us all. This message started in Washington and now the effects of the Capitol's gridlock will come home to roost.

Bond King Bill Gross of Pimco Investments has indicated that the AA+ downgrade will likely push rates higher across the entire bond market, including state and municipal bonds. We here in Milford have 300M in exposure and a slight 1% increase in our interest rate can induce a hardship.

About a month ago I quoted Meredith Whitney of the Whitney Advisory Group. Meredith is one of those unique individuals who in her words "has to be right" and she spent considerable time studying the municipal bond market. Meredith concluded about a month ago that the entire "Municipal Bond Market" is set to experience a painful correction.

Wall street, who usually trades on the trends that exist six month ahead, is telling us that something is very wrong and the economic horizon is now set ablaze with bright orange flames.

My predictions on Milford and its looming debt crisis is based on Game Theory as calculated by the economic figures set forth in the CAFRs. Currently Milford has solutions, but neither candidate for mayor has expressed a willingness to embrace those solutions or even ask what needs to be done. We are at a cross roads, one that is not good, one that ignores the very reality of rational decision making and the nature of default based politics.

In 2007, when I ran for state Rep. I set out to sound the alarm on a One Billion dollar state shortfall. Local Republicans and Local Democrats laughed and mocked me for even suggesting something so outrageous and "off the wall." Much to their surprise I was wrong because the problem was 3.2 Billion not One. Now the state is shutting down as mass layoffs further threaten the state economy.

Milford has one shot to fix this coming mass default, one that could rise to as much as One Billion Dollars locally!! It is this year, and it involves something called the "Spike theory of municipal Change." I have all of the details on this rigorous program and how it works. However, our candidates both have expressed they will "wing it" with their unproven ideas. I highly advise and beg of our next Mayor to please not "wing it" this is no time to experiment with our futures.