Keffler: These are Balanced Budgets

"These are balanced budgets." Those are Richardson City Manager Bill Keffler's words Monday evening at a public hearing on the proposed 2011-2012 budget. Keffler seemed unusually agitated as he tried to explain why the budget shows an excess of expenditures over revenues. He said public opinion had "misunderstood" this matter and he wanted to "set the record straight."

I had the uncomfortable feeling that he was speaking to me. So, even though I didn't think there was anything left to say, let's go, after the jump, to Keffler's argument and my response.

All PDFs Are Not Created Equal

The City of Richardson has been recognized for transparency and rightly so. But transparency is not like pregnancy. You can't be a little bit pregnant. You're either pregnant or you're not. With transparency, there's room for all sorts of in-between states. That's where Richardson is right now. That's OK as long as we're getting better. You like to think that we're living in Drew Barrymore's world where she can say, "I'm not only in the best place I've ever been, but it keeps getting better and better." We're not quite there.

After the jump, an irritating inconsistency in Richardson's transparency from year to year.

Speaking English: Balanced Budget

balanced budget: noun. A budget is balanced when current expenditures are equal to receipts
-- Dictionary.com

balanced budget: Government budget where the current expenditure equals current revenue.
-- BusinessDictionary.com

balanced budget: A budget for which expenditures are equal to income. Sometimes a budget for which expenditures are less than income is also considered balanced.
-- InvestorWords.com

There you have it. A general-purpose dictionary, a business dictionary and an investment dictionary all agree. So, when I looked at Richardson's proposed 2011-2012 budget, saw that expenditures ($188.6 million) exceeded revenues ($186.9 million), and pronounced it "not balanced," it seemed to be an easy call for me. I couldn't understand why the city insisted the budget was balanced. I did have my theories:

"Maybe there's a state legal requirement that city budgets be balanced, meaning there's a legal definition of what "balanced" means that doesn't exactly match the dictionary definition. As long as the city meets the legal definition, their budget is in (legal) balance, even if the numbers show a teensy-tiny (dictionary) deficit."

After the jump, Bill McCalpin fleshes out that theory.

Wildcats 34, Skeeters 27

From 2011 Football

On a hot summer night, the average lifespan of a mosquito is one to two hours. The Skeeters of Mesquite High School lasted that long and more, persistent pests until the end. The Lake Highlands Wildcats eventually prevailed 34-27 in the season opener for both schools at Wildcat-Ram Stadium.

The bands and color guards and drill teams and cheerleaders and everything else that goes into making high school football the best value in Friday night entertainment are also off to a good start. It promises to be a great season.

More photos from this game and all of the 2011 season can be found here.

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In other Friday night games involving RISD schools, JJ Pearce beat Lake Dallas 36-32 (w00t) and Frisco Centennial beat Richardson 51-7 (ouch). Earlier, on Thursday night, Berkner beat South Garland 29-23.

The Return of High School Football

From 2011 Football

Still hotter than blazes. But it's late August. You know what that means. High school football returns. Thursday night, at Garland's Homer B. Johnson Stadium, the Berkner Rams came from behind to beat the South Garland Colonels 29-23. The go ahead touchdown for the Rams came with five minutes left in the game, then the defense did its part with a pass interception on the 5 yard line with a minute to play to nail down the win. It's a great time to be a Ram!

More photos from the game can be found here.