Results
of Reviews of Selected Governments CAFRs - 1st Year
| Name
of Government |
CAFR
Year |
Potential
Surpluses (In Billions) |
Potential
Per Capita Refund |
Total
1st Yr Economic Benefits Per Capita |
Total
Economic Benefits - Family of 4 |
Click
for Special Report |
| Arizona |
1999 |
$
11.84 |
2,399 |
4,817 |
19,667 |
Details |
| California |
2000 |
$
60.94 |
1,799 |
4,141 |
16,564 |
Details |
| Colorado |
2000 |
$
5.59 |
1,299 |
2,650 |
10,599 |
Details |
| Florida |
1999 |
$
47.28 |
3,074 |
6,271 |
25,085 |
Details |
| Kentucky |
1999 |
$
9.44 |
2,366 |
4,920 |
19,681 |
Details |
| Massachusetts |
2000 |
$
12.80 |
2,015 |
4,111 |
16,446 |
Details |
| New
Hampshire |
2000 |
$
1.92 |
1,552 |
3,291 |
13,162 |
Details |
| New
York |
1999 |
$
61.68 |
3,387 |
6,925 |
27,699 |
Details |
| Ohio |
2000 |
$
40.15 |
3,537 |
7,215 |
28,858 |
Details |
| Oklahoma |
2000 |
$
7.29 |
2,112 |
4,309 |
17,236 |
Details |
| Oregon |
2000 |
$
11.81 |
3,452 |
7,249 |
28,998 |
Details |
| Texas |
1999 |
$
46.33 |
2,296 |
4,772 |
19,090 |
Details |
| Vermont |
1999 |
$
1.40 |
2,297 |
4,829 |
19,317 |
Details |
| Washington |
2000 |
$
9.13 |
3,246 |
6,649 |
26,597 |
Details |
| Wisconsin |
2000 |
$
6.38 |
1,189 |
2,425 |
9,700 |
Details |
Do
you know who is representing you with your local
government?
Most
people do not know and don't care. However, most of you
receiving this email do care or you would not be
receiving this email.
Wouldn't
you like to know more?
Here is
a very simple way to find out the facts with a minimum
of effort.
1. Find
the individual(s)/organization that purports to
represent you in defending your rights, taxation, and
other matters dealing with your local government.
2.
Either email or snail mail the following to them:
-------------------------------------------------Email
Starts
Here---------------------------------------------------------------------------
[Name of
individual or organization]
It is my
understanding that you represent the residents of [name
of school district, city or county] in many matters that
are of importance to all of us. We appreciate the time
and effort you have spent on our behalf.
In order
for us (myself, my neighbors, friends, and others) to
better understand what is taking place in the tax and
spending areas I would like to ask a few questions.
1. In
your review and analysis of the revenues and
expenditures of [name of school district, city or
county] do you take into consideration, in addition to
the budget, the financial data contained in the
Comprehensive Annual Financial Report (CAFR)? It may not
have that exact name, but almost every government
prepares such an annual document. If you need to know
more about this document you can go to the following
address and read about what the document contains. Click
Here .
2. If
you are not familiar with the CAFR and its contents, I
am hoping that you spend a little time learning about
this document at this site: www.cafrman.com
The CAFR is mostly Greek to me, but it is my
understanding that it has some very important financial
data that can be useful in evaluating [school district,
city, county] budget and tax proposals.
3. If
you are familiar with the CAFR, have you reviewed and
analyzed it to assist you in determining what is
reasonable for the [school district, city, or county]
budget to include?
4. If
you are familiar with the CAFR and you have conducted a
review of its contents would you please provide me with
the summary results of your review so I can further
disseminate the summary to others.
Your
response to the above would be greatly appreciated.
Respectfully,
[Your Name]
[Address]
[City, State, ZIP]
[Telephone Number]
-----------------------------------------------------------Email
Ends
Here--------------------------------------------------------------------
There
are benefits to this approach.
First,
if the indivduals/organization do not know about the
CAFR it is a discrete method of introducing them to the
document where the surpluses are located.
Second,
it puts them on notice that there are those in the
community who are familiar with the existence of the
document and encourages them to find out about it.
Third,
what you are indirectly saying is that you are
encouraging them to consider the CAFR in their analysis
and any presentation they make to your local government.
Fourth,
if they go to the www.cafrman.com site, they will learn
that there are huge surpluses in State and local
governments.
How to copy
and paste email above to a new message.
For
those of you who are not familiar with copying and
pasting items here are the steps that will assist in
transferring the above email to a new email:
1.
Highlight the email with your mouse or keyboard.
2. Click on the Edit menu item, then click on Copy.
3. Click on New Message in your email program.
4. Place your cursor in the message section of the new
email
5. From the Edit menu, click on Paste.
The
above email should now be in your new message. You can
edit the email by inserting the name of government or
perform other editing just as you do with a normal
email.
In
addition, you can paste the above email to a word
processor and print it if you decide to use snail mail.
You have
just cleared you conscience and feel you were just doing
your civic duty. By the action above you have
transferred the CAFR surplus problem from yourself to
your tax watch dog organization. In this way you get
them to do all the work and if they do nothing, then you
have two things to complain about instead of just one,
(1) the surpluses and (2) the organization that did not
get your money back. See, for you it is a win-win
situation.
It
appears getting the money back and all the other
economic benefits for your community is nowhere nearly
as important as being able to complain about it. The
value of complaining far exceeds the benefits derived
from resolving the complaint.
Respectfully,
-CAFRman
Lieutenant Colonel, USAF, Retired
"I
am only one, but I am one. I cannot do everything, but I
can do something. And because I cannot do everything, I
will not refuse to do the something that I can do. What
I can do, I should do. And what I should do, by the
grace of God, I will do." - Edward Everett Hale
This message is sent
in compliance of the email bill section 301, Per Section
301, Paragraph (a)(2)(C) of S. 1618. I will comply with
all removal requests. Just Click on the Reply button,
put Remove in the Subject line and click on Send. Your
removal request will be sent to: cafrman@cafrman.com
