June 26, 2022
Letter: Pocatello Resident Expresses Concern with City Spending and Rising Property Taxes
To the Pocatello Mayor and City Council:
My name is Trudee Ruffridge and I’d like to make a statement regarding the City of Pocatello’s spending.
We taxpayers do NOT have a choice to either increase our income that is coming in or lower our bills. We are being hit with double digit inflation affecting our daily living expenses. That includes but is not limited to, a drastic increase in gas costs, groceries, power bills, etc. Those of us on a FIXED income don’t have a way to increase our income. Yet the City of Pocatello continues to increase its spending and wants to have another 7% increase coming out of our property taxes. How is this fair? It appears the city council thinks of the property taxes as a cash cow. And would rather raise taxes than cut unnecessary expenditures.
We need to see accountability. Why is the City, for the fourth consecutive year, paying penalties regarding the “late” submissions of the Annual Reports to the Idaho Bond Bank Authority?
Thanks to “Pocatello for Accountable Government Entities” for providing this information. There is the distinct possibility that the total amount paid out since 2019 for this yearly failure could be upwards to $31,000 in fines. And I’ll barely mention the unnecessary granite countertops installed in two Pocatello city offices for approx. $9,000. What other unnecessary expenses are we not hearing about? And try natural attrition instead of replacing people as they leave. Too many employees for the size of this city.
It’s obvious the city doesn’t care about its constituents. Spending, spending, and more spending is what our city council is all about. The CITY NEEDS TO BE ACCOUNTABLE TO THE TAXPAYERS! We are watching and will NOT hesitate to vote you out!”
