IS THIS GREED GOOD? CoMo City Hall seeks more money from voters -- with $250 million in the bank!
- Details
- Written by Heart Beat staff

COLUMBIA, Mo 8/3/15 (Beat Byte) -- As Columbia residents go to the polls tomorrow to vote for -- or against -- yet another city tax, we wanted to dispute -- in big, bold, line-item relief -- assertions city officials keep making about how little cash (aka "liquidity") city government has on hand.
As of 9/30/14 -- the most recent date reported -- that figure was $246,778,093, NOT including another $111,984,534 in cash and liquid investments to pay city retirees.
City Hall is too broke "write a check" for $6.75 million in sewer repairs downtown, Mayor Bob McDavid said last year.
Hizzoner followed those comments with repeated, public attacks on this publication for "misleading" reports about this issue. He clearly hasn't read -- let alone comprehended -- the Comprehensive Annual Financial Report (CAFR), from which these figures come.
This roughly $250 million cash stash, as we've called it, sits in nearly 200 numbered bank accounts -- money markets, CDs, Treasuries, and other so-called "liquid" investments itemized, one by one, below.
These accounts represent an astonishing 56% of the city's $442 million annual budget, which is like saying a person who earns and spends $20,000 a year has $11,200 in savings they don't use for emergencies. Or that a person who makes and spends $100,000 annually has $56,000 in savings they rarely tap.
This giant cash stash just keeps growing. It was $229 million in 2010; as high as $267 million in 2012. With all that money on deposit, it's no wonder every bank in town is behind every tax increase.
That ought to sound strange -- bankers are normally portrayed as low-tax Republican types. But all that party rhetoric goes out the window when big bucks are at stake.
Scroll through these accounts, and so your eyes don't glaze over, think economically about them. Just one of these babies could set a person up for life.
Think philosophically. We're pissing and moaning about income inequality, and yet: Look at this. Our own city government, amassing this kind of dough.
Think morally. Think ethically. How much money does City Hall spend on the public's priorities? Chip-and-seal streets. Bad sewers and storm drains. A homeless population left to "drop in" centers. And a rapidly rising cost of doing business -- and cost of living -- for everybody else.
Every year, city manager Mike Matthes seeks and gets dozens and dozens of fee, fine, and rate increases in his annual budget. And every year, without fail, the city asks us voters for more money, either at the polls or through our elected Council.
Now, they've got a big PAC called "Foundation for Columbia's Future" to do the dirty work, which includes taking thousands of dollars from businesses seeking city jobs, like the $5,000 donation to the tax push from a firetruck supplier.
Columbia isn't going to have a future if this annual cycle of take from the little people and give to the big people -- the "right people," as Trib publisher Hank Waters calls them -- doesn't stop.
City Hall bank account / $ Amount as of 9/30/14
3133XAWF0 $136,622
3133XCQE6 $97,471
3133XCT60 $158,506
31294KCL7 $19,406
31294KDD4 $42,993
31344XNTO $67,116
31392PZL2 $12,588
31335HGU1 $11,132
3128PKZW7 $135,930
31371N4M4 $187,783
31403SY42 $170,747
31335HJG9 $9,892
317705AP6 $2,237,638
31407B6E4 $118,508
312904RL1 $8,501
31336WAM1 $260,216
3128M1BN8 $185,266
3128PUVG4 $1,333,173
3128MBHR1 $673,398
31371KBN0 $15,848
312906C40 $5,109
312906XG0 $19,033
31331XX64 $2,449,910
31397F2N1 $298,066
3128PFH24 $96,432
3129072D9 $7,948
3134G45T1 $1,921,940
31358KF37 $5,999
312909J88 $89,587
3136A9ZB7 $1,993,013
313381H40 $1,888,900
313382UX9 $1,967,560
31371K7J4 $276,752
31335H2U6 $224,810
31371LK32 $221,098
36241K3L0 $821,307
31410K3V4 $366,034
31371LQY8 $195,693
3130A1RQ3 $1,966,580
3128MMK28 $576,475
31335H5D1 $730,239
3128PQMT5 $367,882
31398V7F7 $890,247
3128MCWM3 $885,150
3136AJRQ1 $1,975,165
31410LB84 $1,032,827
31397UZT9 $415,872
3137A9FB7 $640,139
3137B34Q8 $1,899,407
3128PWEA2 $1,530,789
3133T7WD7 $147,871
3128CUKU9 $266,106
3136A5YY6 $1,469,705
31371NEY7 $320,167
3136G0TA9 $2,932,560
3136G0TS0 $1,973,626
3137ATKU5 $1,599,484
3137AVYK7 $1,605,470
3128E4KJ0 $155,090
3136G1CR8 $1,948,480
3128P7JH7 $252,611
31371NTK1 $154,934
3136ACA27 $2,146,884
3136G1HH5 $1,476,030
3128P7JL8 $150,542
313382TD5 $1,854,820
3136G1MC0 $1,990,300
3133832P5 $1,881,900
3136AD2P3 $1,326,622
36202C4S9 $4,261
31398AQY1 $2,011,800
3137A9RZ1 $1,405,201
3128P7M67 $722,043
3136AHNW6 $1,792,571
31417Y4A2 $1,250,709
31417Y6Q5 $1,177,719
31417Y6X0 $914,835
31394GBQ5 $717,877
31392JVZ9 $735,996
3137AXUG6 $2,597,917
38374BG80 $307,459
3137BAYE6 $1,984,673
31393A5B9 $236,607
31393BM77 $767,284
31336SUH9 $162,652
31395HMH0 $212,492
313383R52 $2,045,820
31402YS88 $56,522
31292HZL1 $689,400
31368HL35 $397,147
3137A45W3 $2,344,863
31402CU75 $541,128
31404TAR4 $229,627
31404QTX7 $102,638
31404UQ52 $234,715
38374JYF7 $132,596
31395J5C6 $471,077
31395TLX0 $278,975
31395TM35 $121,365
3128JM7H4 $319,676
31395PHQ8 $339,112
31394DHY9 $306,547
31397FP48 $161,522
31397G6P0 $5,463
3863579F52 $119,704
38376KAL5 $349,870
3128LXQD5 $453,446
31397LLU1 $720,381
31410FVY8 $266,990
31397EXX8 $153,337
3128M4V42 $389,341
31410GKU6 $137,605
38378CQF7 $1,534,139
3128M6YJ1 $680,039
31349UTU2 $210,287
31349UTV0 $76,961
31397TJ37 $437,637
38375YEK4 $214,339
38376KLZ2 $572,536
31398SMH3 $1,244,619
3137A5ZA5 $1,169,011
36202E5W5 $240,220
38377JD83 $1,781,138
31396QMC0 $423,942
31398FKY6 $723,138
31398FLA7 $511,504
38378BQA0 $1,728,908
38375D3D8 $543,265
38376XZC0 $2,774,420
38376T2H4 $609,904
38378DPL3 $1,337,501
3137A3ME6 $2,075,111
38376KKX8 $322,004
31397SGM0 $859,326
38377JZ48 $1,320,333
31398RC94 $745,496
3137AMBU0 $1,099,283
3136A9LG1 $1,394,616
38375GQW4 $1,626,048
3136AAEK7 $1,415,758
3137A8LS5 $1,287,745
31398TZJ3 $459,892
3136AJPG5 $1,622,100
31398NJE5 $1,021,406
3137AU7H6 $1,647,692
38376LZB8 $995,827
38377LT57 $4,723,406
31398N7B4 $1,596,927
31398SQY2 $621,598
3137A6AM4 $790,047
3137A6R46 $492,211
3136AADT9 $2,466,455
3137ANME2 $525,868
38377X4E9 $1,684,602
3136A2V59 $1,904,560
3137ANQF5 $1,040,881
3137ATW57 $2,042,689
3137AQJB5 $1,956,887
3137ATGB2 $1,587,581
3136A3XT3 $1,031,943
3137AUCV9 $2,857,478
3137AUVJ5 $1,567,594
3136A8YZ7 $1,587,608
3137AUF46 $1,519,979
3136A4QK8 $2,302,065
3136A6B45 $1,401,935
3136A9GM4 $2,428,395
38375GYE5 $1,567,405
38378ESK0 $1,036,531
3136A4JR1 $793,512
3137ANNS0 $1,527,027
3136A8ZW3 $1,965,332
3136ACH53 $1,961,809
3137ASAG9 $1,970,220
38378JQU9 $1,760,557
3136A9UY2 $1,643,591
3136ABB28 $2,494,207
38378GX78 $2,209,011
3136AB5T6 $2,538,711
3137B0LN2 $2,310,404
38378FR51 $2,406,399
3136ACYK1 $2,494,961
3137AXUZ4 $1,536,336
3137B2LG3 $1,812,528
3136ABFP3 $1,319,307
3136AKUZ4 $2,024,600
3136ADKY4 $1,960,459
UBS Select $54,941,470
Total Pooled Cash and Marketable Securities...........$246,778,093
(DOES NOT INCLUDE retirement funds of $111,984,534).
Source: Table 13, 2014 CAFR