I am happy to spend money on things that are needed.  I am a big supporter of looking for state and federal grants.  Yes, I do understand that there is a fine line between grants and earmarks.

Now a major portion of the Cudahy referendum is for new roofs at Gen. Mitchell and J.E. Jones elementary schools.

I was talking to someone in city government who told me that someone should have looked into state and federal grants to place solar power panels on the roof.  To get the solar power panels up, they would have to replace the roof.

Not only could the school save on electric costs, but also the roofs would have been replaced.

I have included pictures of James Fennimore Cooper Elementary School on the south side of Milwaukee that does have solar power panels.  (click on picture for larger view)

On a similar thought, you can replace the boilers with Geothermal.  The return on investment (ROI) and savings are very quick.

I do think the referendum will pass and I don’t want to hear from people complain about Cudahy’s taxes!

http://www.cudahynow.com/news/cninews/39026137.html

Roof work tops Cudahy referendum spending list

School officials will ask voters for $4.4 million

“The roofs are really driving this,” said Jim Papala, director of financial services. “There’s a potential for increasing the damage to the buildings if we don’t take care of the roofs real soon.”

Papala said state-imposed revenue limits prevent the district from doing big projects such as roof replacements.  If the referendum meets voter approval, the roofs will be repaired this summer.

Other projects include window, lighting and floor repairs and renovations at Cudahy High School, according to a list from the district.

Nothing ‘extravagant’

Superintendent Jim Heiden said nothing on the list is “extravagant or over-the-top.”

“These are all things that need to be taken care of,” he said.

Kutka disputes ‘needs’

Only board member Linda Kutka voted against going to referendum at a meeting earlier this month.

Kutka said not everything on the list is needed, especially at Cudahy High School. She disputed the inclusion of $625,000 for office renovations, $281,000 to construct a circular drive in the school’s parking lot and $35,000 for an electronic welcome sign outside the school.

A parking lot also would be constructed in front of Kosciuszko Elementary School for about $112,000, she said.

“Those projects, I believe, are not needed,” she said.  “We are in difficult times, and we need to ask citizens for exactly what we need.”

She said the unnecessary projects will not boost students’ test scores or allow the district to hire more staff.

30 state school districts seek more taxpayer funds

Milwaukee Journal Sentinel

Sunday Mar. 29, 2009

Amid one of the worst economic periods the country has seen in years, 30 Wisconsin school districts are poised to ask taxpayers to open their wallets wider.

The majority of the 43 referendum proposals on April 7 local ballots seek to allow the districts to exceed state-imposed revenue limits to finance current programs.  Others, such as the $68.85 million building program proposed for the West Bend School District, request the ability to issue debt to pay for maintenance or new facilities.

But with the state of the economy, and the failures of all nine school referendum proposals on the Feb. 17 ballot, districts likely face a hard sell this year, observers say.

"They do need more revenue, and they're going to the taxpayers to ask for it, but this is also the wrong time to do that," said Michael Birkley, legislative director for Wisconsin Property Taxpayers.  "With people being laid off all over the place, now is not the time to ask and to invest more in education."

http://www.jsonline.com/news/education/42107312.html

Cudahy was not mentioned in the article!

This is part two of Knowing A Gift When You See it

I will work this over with these dollar figures:

Wal-Mart’s amounts in black $10.91

http://www.jsonline.com/business/36380809.html

According to Lisa Nelson (no relation to Waukesha Mayor Nelson) of Wal-Mart, the $10.91 is just store average total of hourly workers.  These are the same figures she gave Cudahy.

Wisconsin minimum wages in red $6.50

http://www.dwd.state.wi.us/dwd/publications/erd/pdf/erd_9247_p.pdf

The amount in 2005 anti-Wal-Mart establishments used in blue $9.68

http://www.laborresearch.org/print.php?id=391

Most associates are full-time associates (34 - 40 hours per week), but there are part-time jobs available, as well.

Wal-Mart Careers

For the Cudahy Station we will use 300 jobs as that was the number Wal-Mart released.

300 jobs with 60% as full-time

300 x .6 = 180 jobs full-time

300 jobs with 40% as part-time

300 x .4 = 120 jobs part-time

So far so good!

180 jobs x $10.91 per hour = $1,963.80 per hour full-time jobs

120 jobs x $10.91 per hour = $1,309.20 per hour part-time jobs

300 jobs x $10.91 per hour = $3,273.00 per hour total

Now full-time jobs we will take 34 hours a week as a conservative number of hours worked

180 jobs x $10.91 per hour x 34 hours a week $66,769.20

Now we will use 50 weeks average worked $66,769.20 x 50 weeks = $3,338,460.00 and that is just what the full-timers would bring in at the Cudahy Wal-Mart conservatively.

For part-time, we will use 20 hours a week as that was the standard at K-Mart and most large retail.

120 jobs x $10.91 per hour x 20 hours a week $26,184.00

Now we will use 50 weeks on average worked $26,184.00 x 50 weeks = $1,309,200.00 and that is just what the part-timers would bring in at the Cudahy Wal-Mart conservatively.

So let’s bottom line this!

300 jobs in Cudahy (not to mention the management positions) $3,338,460.00 + $1,309,200.00 = $4,647,660.00 that Wal-Mart in Cudahy would put into the workers hands with a lot spent in Cudahy.  (Don’t forget that is $4.6 Million +)

We will average full-time 34 hours with 40 hours

$10.91 x 34 hours = $370.94 per week x 50 weeks = $18,547.00 per year (conservatively)

$10.91 x 40 hours = $436.40 per week x 52 weeks = $22,692.80 per year

Averaged out $18,547.00 + $22,692.80 = $41,239.80 / 2 = $20,619.90

Now what some would like to argue is that Wal-Mart jobs you cannot live off of so let us do some more math and checking in.

Remember what the Poverty rates were?

2008 HHS Poverty Guidelines

Persons in Family or Household 48 Contiguous States

1 Person $10,400

2 Person $14,000

3 Person $17,600

4 Person $21,200

So, as you can see IF the Wal-Mart employee is the only one working with four person household it is below the poverty rate if you use either the average or 34 hour a week numbers.  Now again, most households would have the other person working.

True retail doesn’t pay the greatest, but where does it say that a retail job must provide a living wage for themselves and others?  Why must Wal-Mart be the one that everyone decides should?  Does Starbucks offer a living wage?

It is always nice to show the math work and actually deal with facts!  The truth can lie when you don’t use facts.

Now let’s calculate this with all at minimum wage (again not including management)

Alternatively full-time & part-time pay at different rate of Wisconsin minimum wage rate $6.50

180 jobs x $6.50 per hour = $1,170.00 per hour full-time jobs

120 jobs x $6.50 per hour = $780.00 per hour part-time jobs

300 jobs x $6.50 per hour = $1,950 per hour total

We will use 34 hours a week for full-time hours worked

180 jobs x $6.50 per hour x 34 hours a week $39,780.00

Now we will use 50 weeks average worked $39,780.00 x 50 weeks = $1,989,000

Again, that is just what the full-timers would bring in at the Cudahy Wal-Mart conservatively

Once more for part time, we will use 20 hours a week.

120 jobs x $6.50 per hour x 20 hours a week $15,600.00

Once again, we will use 50 weeks on average worked

$15,600.00 x 50 weeks = $780,000 and that is just what the part-timers would bring in at the Cudahy Wal-Mart.

So let’s bottom line this with just minimum wage figures!

300 jobs in Cudahy (don’t forget the management positions that are not factored into this) $1,989,000 + $780,000 = $2,769,000 that Wal-Mart in Cudahy would put into the workers hands with a lot spent in Cudahy.  (Don’t forget that is $2.7 Million +)

We will average fulltime 34 hours with 40 hours

$6.50 x 34 hours = $221.00 per week x 50 weeks = $11,080.00 per year (conservatively)

$6.50 x 40 hours = $260.00 per week x 52 weeks = $13,520.00 per year

Averaged out $11,080.00 + $13,520.00 = $24,600.00 / 2 = $12,300.00

2008 HHS Poverty Guidelines

Persons in Family or Household 48 Contiguous States

1 Person $10,400

2 Person $14,000

3 Person $17,600

4 Person $21,200

Now the amount in 2005 anti-Wal-Mart establishments used $9.68

180 jobs x $9.68 per hour = $1,742.40 per hour full-time jobs

120 jobs x $9.68 per hour = $1,161.60 per hour part-time jobs

300 jobs x $9.68 per hour = $2,904.00 per hour total

Now full-time jobs we will take 34 hours a week as a conservative number worked

180 jobs x $9.68 per hour x 34 hours a week $59,241.60

Now we will use 50 weeks average worked $59,241.60 x 50 weeks = $2,962,080.00 and that is just what the full-timers would bring in at the Cudahy Wal-Mart conservatively.

For part-time using 20 hours a week

120 jobs x $9.68 per hour x 20 hours a week $23,232.00

Now we will use 50 weeks on average worked $23,232.00 x 50 weeks = $1,161,600.00 and that is just what the part-timers would bring in at the Cudahy Wal-Mart conservatively.

Bottom lining this!

300 jobs in Cudahy (not to mention the management positions) $2,962,080.00 + $1,161,600.00 = $4,123,680.00 that Wal-Mart in Cudahy would put into the workers hands with a lot spent in Cudahy.  (Don’t forget that is $4.1 Million +)

We will average full-time 34 hours with 40 hours

$9.68 x 34 hours = $329.12 per week x 50 weeks = $16,456.00 per year (conservatively)

$9.68 x 40 hours = $387.20 per week x 52 weeks = $20,134.40 per year

Averaged out $16,456.00 + $20,134.40 = $36,590.40 / 2 = $18,295.20

2008 HHS Poverty Guidelines

Persons in Family or Household 48 Contiguous States

1 Person $10,400

2 Person $14,000

3 Person $17,600

4 Person $21,200

Disclaimer –doesn’t factor any overtime in equations

That is a lot of money Cudahy is losing out moving around the city!  And yes, not all jobs would go to just Cudahy residents, than again what company does?  Even the Police department in Cudahy doesn’t require only Cudahy residents!

Nobody forces anyone to work at Wal-Mart, they choose to!

US Mints $ 36 Million Worth of Pennies - Costs $ 50 Million

The US government has redesigned and minted 3.6 billion pennies for a total face value of $ 36 million.  At a cost of $ 0.014 each, the pennies cost $ 50.4 to actually produce.

The coins 4 designs are set to commemorate the 2009 bicentennial of Abraham Lincoln's birth.  It is the first redesign of the coin in 50 years.  A Lincoln commemorative dollar coin is set to be released next year also.

As in World War II, it has been suggested to use steel in the making of the coins or even to abolish them completely.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/09/22/AR2008092202565.html

I just don’t understand why the U.S. Mint cannot just mint pennies every other year.  This would save the U.S Mint and thus us, the taxpayers, money.  We have plenty of pennies in circulation with many of them in people’s jars at home.  I turn my change in every few months and my daughter gets the money for her account.

It just doesn’t make sense (no pun) to produce the penny every year when we lose money making it.  My understanding is that the cost of all the change added together still comes out ahead, so it is a wash!  I don’t want to do away with it because of the rounding and increase of a cost, albeit a penny.  Pennies add up!

While it is no surprise that they are moving it is still sad to see them and the jobs go.  Many of us cling to hopes they would stay, but they did state they wanted neutral ground and so we are losing them.  Better in Chicago then Dallas for Milwaukee.

I read the report in the Milwaukee Journal and saw the reports on TV and in the end, I think MONEY did play a part.

Congratulations to Chicago on landing MillerCoors.  Here are two stories one from Chicago Tribune and another from the Denver Post on their take.  Please read the full version, I pulled out some highlights.

Chicago Tribune

Beer tab too high for jobs?

MillerCoors gets $20 million in aid to bring 300-400 HQ jobs to Chicago

In the sweepstakes for landing corporate headquarters, Chicago won one Tuesday when a joint venture of two of the biggest U.S. beer operations announced it will call the city home.

Landing MillerCoors will add 300 to 400 jobs, a tiny number for an economy the size of Chicago's, economic development experts say.  Still, it's a symbolic victory for a city that values its identity as a business crossroads yet has witnessed an exodus of famous names over the past decade through corporate restructurings, among them Amoco, Ameritech and First Chicago.  Chicago's also won some contests, wooing such companies as Boeing from Seattle and United Airlines from the suburbs.

The company chose Chicago because it will have "access to an attractive base of talent, transportation and business resources," MillerCoors President Tom Long said in a statement, adding the company was "grateful" for Illinois' "support."

Merriman agreed winning MillerCoors is a symbolic victory.  "The question is whether the tax breaks are justified. The tax breaks are not symbolic."

The city has offered assistance to MillerCoors in the form of tax-increment financing.  The exact amount hasn't been determined, but Rita Athas, executive director of World Business Chicago, the city's economic development office, said it would likely be $2.5 million to $5 million.

The city has given similar TIF subsidies to other corporate relocations.  But such incentive packages have been criticized because TIFs were set up to fix blighted areas.

Illinois has lined up an $18 million assistance package, primarily involving income tax rebates.

Full Story

The Denver Post

Colorado gets canned for MillerCoors' HQ

MillerCoors has selected Chicago as its headquarters site, rebuffing pleas from metro Denver and Milwaukee to locate the lead corporate office in the historic homes of Coors and Miller beer.

In a consolation prize of sorts, the Coors brewery in Golden will get a $100 million capital infusion to update its brewing and packaging equipment.

The investment will enable the brewery to make both Coors and Miller brands — a key component of the recently completed merger of Coors' and Miller's U.S. operations.

The state of Illinois offered MillerCoors an $18 million incentive package, most of it from corporate income tax credits based on job creation over the next 15 years.

The city of Chicago also agreed to provide a financing package of undisclosed value that will provide tax breaks to MillerCoors if it locates the headquarters in an area targeted for economic development.

The office will be in the downtown area, Kiely said, but a site hasn't been selected.  Leased office space, new construction or purchase of an existing building are all under consideration, MillerCoors officials said.  The company hopes to open the headquarters by mid-2009.

Full Story

Want to hear a mind blower!  If I were allowed, I would make annual contributions into a Roth IRA for my child.  If I put in $5000 per year until she turned 18 and if we got an average of 10% return, she would have $238,972.  At that point, I would quit contributing and the money would continue to grow (assumed 10%) for the next 43 years until she reaches 65.  At 65, she would have $17,301,157 in her retirement account just from what I contributed!  I did state, “If I were allowed” because current law does not allow you to invest in a Roth for someone without earned income.  Seems stupid to me, as money that goes into a Roth is after tax money!  Yes, I paid the taxes already, so why shouldn’t I be able to help my child? 

I would hope that I could teach her well enough that she would continue to invest the $5000/ year till she reaches 65 and she would have $30,868,446!!

Again, current law does not allow you to invest in a Roth for someone who does not have earned income.  This means that she must wait to start her Roth.  So, if she starts at age 18 till age 65 or 43 years contributing $5000/ year and still assuming an average return of 10%, she would have $3,409,233.  I wish she could have the other $26.5 million!

Here are more things to keep in mind.  First, saving for YOUR future is not that hard for most.  To save $5000 / year you would need to deduct $208.33 from each of 24 paychecks.  But you don’t pay taxes on this money so your take home should be reduced by about $125.  OK, sounds like a lot, but it gets better!  Tighten the belt a little and soon you will be used to the new paycheck and the next time you get a raise, some of the hurt goes away.  After a couple raises you will be back to your original take home and enjoying the results on you investment statements. 

Some employers also do some sort of match to your contributions.  If you are not getting the maximum amount from you employer, then you are giving up free money!

Understand the importance of ongoing saving of money for your future.  You must be in it for the long run.  I know people who cashed out their 401k money the last time we were in an economic downturn and quit making their regular contributions because they were worried about how much money they had lost.  So they got their money at its lowest value (low stock price) and paid taxes and paid a penalty and quit buying shares at a relative bargain price.  When the market came back all my newly purchased “bargain” shares went up as well and I have far more value than I did before the downturn.  I don’t need the money for another 20 years, so as the markets fluctuate so will my nest egg, but in the long run the long-term investor will be set for their future.

Is there a subject you would like me to write about?

I am open to suggestions.  I have received many in email and will as always keep the names secret.  If you didn’t see yours yet, don’t give up.  I will have it soon.  I have written about two months worth already.

I try and mix up the topics so the blog is not one dimensional.  I have an order mapped out that I try to follow unless a topic is time sensitive, at which it might be squeezed in or pulled out.   I try to make sure those that flow in order follow the order.