The bill for city services is likely to go up for Denton residents, should the City Council agree with a staff proposal that would raise the average water, sewer and trash bill 3.2 percent next year.
The increase means the average residential utility bill could go up about $6.60 per month.
Currently, no increase is planned for electric bills. No property tax increase is planned for the 2012-13 fiscal year, although one is planned in 2014.
Bryan Langley, chief financial officer, laid out the city’s near-term and five-year financial forecast during a council work session last week. The discussion laid the groundwork for budget talks that are scheduled to begin in August.
Langley told the council that, despite the economic downturn, Denton has seen growth in both sales and property tax revenue.
“We haven’t gotten back to the high-growth years we’ve had,” Langley said, adding that most of the new construction has been in apartment buildings.
Some of the sales tax revenue increase came because a budgeted economic incentive payment to the Rayzor Ranch shopping center has not been paid. However, Langley told the City Council that they expect the developers to request it soon.
“We may have one or two payments this fiscal year,” Langley said.
Sales tax revenue can be a leading economic indicator for the city, although it can be a little volatile, he said.
“Next year, it could really take off, or it could get worse,” he said.
For now, the city is forecasting a 3 percent increase in its property tax base, and slightly less than a 3 percent increase in sales tax receipts for the 2012-13 fiscal year.
Terry Clower, a professor in applied economics at the University of North Texas, agreed in an interview Friday that sales tax revenue can be a great economic indicator for cities, and almost a “real-time” measure.
“There’s only a couple months’ lag between the time it is collected and the time it is paid to the city,” Clower said.
With all the new stores along Loop 288, Denton has been able to draw shoppers from other cities, and he sees that continuing, even if the southern part of the county has its own retail renaissance after the widening of Interstate 35E.
Denton had lost some position when Lewisville’s Vista Ridge Mall opened in 1989, but Clower doesn’t see that happening again as Denton and surrounding cities continue to grow.
For residents in the northern part of the county, it’s too far to drive to the southern portion to shop, he said.
With Denton revenues looking rosier, the city will likely seek an increase in base pay for its employees.
City Manager George Campbell told the council the employee pay plan has a midpoint that anchors the city’s pay levels to pay levels in the marketplace.
“So many employees are below the midpoint now,” Campbell said.
The city has seen some effects in the labor marketplace, including having a hard time hiring linemen and other skilled employees for Denton Municipal Electric, he said.
“Of course, that’s because that’s highly technical,” Campbell said.
The city staff also proposed a plan to begin paying for about $9 million in unmet needs at about $1 million per year.
About $750,000 per year would be allocated to continuing needs and another $250,000 spent on one-time needs.
In five years, those ongoing commitments would add about $3.75 million to the city’s annual budget, Langley said.
Next year’s budget also proposes an ambitious capital improvement plan, above the $4.8 million already planned for street reconstruction. About $30 million in water and wastewater projects are planned, along with a $4.4 million expansion of the landfill and $1.8 million in equipment for the solid waste department.
City staff told the council that Denton Municipal Electric will need to create 11.5 new positions, six of which would help with $190 million in capital improvements.
Council member Dalton Gregory questioned the initial description that the electric work was needed for grid reliability, given that the council was told last year that $76 million in projects were planned for 2012-13.
“There can’t have been that many changes needed since last year,” Gregory said.
Assistant City Manager Howard Martin told the council that much of the work was related to the North American Reliability Corporation compliance standards.
“That made changes in our planning,” Martin said.
He told Gregory and the rest of the City Council that they would get a full briefing on the matter at a joint meeting with the Public Utilities Board in July.
PEGGY HEINKEL-WOLFE can be reached at 940-566-6881. Her e-mail address is pheinkel-wolfe@dentonrc.com.
Emerging Stocks Pare First Weekly Advance Since March - Bloomberg
Emerging-market stocks fell, paring the first weekly gain since March, on concerns China’s interest- rate cut will erode bank profits and as economic data from Germany and Italy disappointed.
The MSCI Emerging Markets Index slid 0.9 percent to 905.17 at the close in New York, decreasing its weekly advance to 1.3 percent. HTC Corp. (2498), Asia’s second biggest smartphone maker, tumbled 6.9 percent, extending its weekly retreat to 15 percent in Taipei. China Construction Bank Corp. (939) slid 4 percent, the most since Nov. 10. Brazil’s Bovespa added 1.9 percent, snapping its longest weekly losing streak since 2004.
China’s cut in funding costs comes a day before the nation is due to report inflation, investment and output figures. Spain’s credit ranking was cut three levels by Fitch Ratings to BBB, within two steps of non-investment grade. German exports dropped in April for the first time this year and industrial output in Italy fell more than economists estimated, reports showed today.
“Speculation that bank competition in China may accelerate and that the nation’s economic data may be worse than expected are hurting sentiment today,” said Chu Moon Sung, a Seoul-based fund manager at Shinhan BNP Paribas Asset Management Co., which oversees $28 billion.
The MSCI Emerging Markets Index (MXEF) trades at 9.8 times estimated earnings, cheaper than the 11.8 multiple for shares on the MSCI World Index, which rallied 3.1 percent in the past five days. That’s the biggest weekly advance in 2012.
Trade Deficit
The trade deficit in the U.S. shrank 4.9 percent to $50.1 billion from $52.6 billion in March as a drop in imports overshadowed the first decline in exports in five months, Commerce Department figures showed today. The median forecast in a Bloomberg News survey of 73 economists called for the deficit to shrink to $49.5 billion.
The Bovespa added 0.5 percent in Brazil, extending its five-day advance to 1.9 percent. Gafisa SA, a Brazilian homebuilder, surged 16 percent today after saying earlier this week it will buy the remaining stake in Alphaville Urbanismo SA that it doesn’t already own.
Usinas Siderurgicas de Minas Gerais SA, Brazil’s second- largest steelmaker, dropped 8 percent in Sao Paulo this week to lead declines on the index.
Russia’s Micex Index (INDEXCF) fell 0.3 percent in Moscow, paring its weekly advance to 2.7 percent. OAO Raspadskaya, the coal producer based in Russia’s Kemerovo region, slid 4.4 percent, lessening its five-day advance to 4.4 percent.
The financial and economic links between central and eastern European countries and the EU mean “they are all vulnerable to the euro-area stress,” Societe Generale SA wrote in a report to clients dated yesterday.
Chinese Banks
China’s biggest lenders raised deposit rates hours after the country’s central bank lowered its benchmark and gave them more freedom over pricing, underscoring the competition for funds. Bank profits may drop by more than 10 percent after the interest-rate reduction, according to Hao Hong, chief China strategist at BoCom.
Industrial & Commercial Bank of China declined 4.9 percent in Hong Kong, while China Construction Bank Corp. retreated 4 percent. The losses were the most since Nov. 10.
The Hang Seng China Enterprises Index lost 1.3 percent to an almost eight-month low and Taiwan’s Taiex Index (TWSE) fell 1.1 percent. HTC Corp. sank after Bank of America cut the smartphone maker’s rating.
South Korea’s Kospi index dropped 0.7 percent, while South Africa’s FTSE/JSE Africa All-Share Index slumped 0.7 percent as BHP Billiton Plc, the world’s biggest resources company, decreased 2.7 percent in Johannesburg. Turkey’s ISE National 100 Index slid 1.1 percent.
The extra yield investors demand to own emerging-market debt over U.S. Treasuries fell 1 basis points, or 0.01 percentage point, to 396, according to JPMorgan Chase & Co.’s EMBI Global Index.
To contact the reporters on this story: Christine Harvey in New York at charvey32@bloomberg.net; Saeromi Shin in Seoul at sshin15@bloomberg.net
To contact the editor responsible for this story: Darren Boey at dboey@bloomberg.net
Europe stocks mostly lower; Madrid soars - Brisbane Times
European stocks have closed mostly lower, with the notable exception of Madrid, amid growing speculation the Spanish government will ask for EU help for its stricken banks.
Dealers said concerns over Spain - hit by a drastic three-notch Fitch ratings downgrade on Thursday - and disappointment that the US Federal Reserve plans no immediate new stimulus measures more than offset the impact of China’s first interest rate cut in three years.
The losses, however, were modest, coming after a strong technical bounce earlier in the week and with investors adjusting positions before the weekend, when reports say EU officials may discuss a Spanish aid request.
A modest turnaround on Wall Street also helped as US President Barack Obama said European leaders were well aware of the need to act to solve a eurozone debt crisis which is threatening global growth prospects.
In London, the benchmark FTSE 100 index of top companies closed down 0.23 per cent at 5,435.08 points. In Frankfurt, the DAX 30 slipped 0.22 per cent to 6,130.82 points and in Paris the CAC 40 lost 0.63 per cent to 3,051.69 points.
Madrid bucked the trend, gaining 1.77 per cent amid increasing speculation the government will call on the EU, perhaps as early as this weekend, for help to stabilise its struggling banks.
The market view is that outside help for the banks would take the pressure off Madrid and give the government greater leeway to get the economy growing again and stabilise the public finances.
The European single currency meanwhile gave up most of Thursday’s gains, sliding to $US1.2482 from $US1.2561 late in New York on Thursday. It struck a 23-month low late last week at $US1.2288.
In Asian trade earlier on Friday, markets fell, with investors more focused on Bernanke than Beijing’s surprise rate cut.Tokyo tumbled 2.09 per cent, Hong Kong was down 0.69 per cent, Shanghai lost 0.51 per cent and Sydney fell 1.09 per cent.
AFP
Big three back in business - SkySports
And no wonder.
With Vettel storming to pole position and both Hamilton and Alonso exceeding the capabilities of their machinery to offer the only genuine threat to the World Champion's return to the front of the grid, it was like old times at Montreal on Saturday afternoon. In a season of such varying fortunes, the sight of Vettel, Hamilton and Alonso sitting alongside each other in the post-session press conference will perhaps serve in retrospect as the first sign that the 2012 season is ready to settle down.
There can certainly be no denying that Vettel's pole lap of 1:13.784 carried an unmistakable ominous feel, with Red Bull team-mate Mark Webber blitzed by over half a second. So much for the suggestion that the Aussie's win in Monaco signalled a shift in the balance of power at Red Bull; so much, too, for the suspicion that the FIA's outlawing of the hole in the floor of the RB8 would blunt the team's competiveness.
"I don't think a hole in the floor makes all the difference," declared Vettel. "I think we have a great car and the car works well as whole - and not just with a hole. We never feared a big impact on the car.
"I was happy throughout qualifying and was able to get a little bit quicker and it looked very tight at the beginning but in the end it seemed like we could make a bit more of [a] difference."
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Ultimately, Vettel's advantage was measured at three-tenths of a second - or, as he himself saw it, "eight metres over Lewis" - but there was an unmistakable edge of confidence in Vettel's assessment of his chances of claiming Red Bull's first victory at a circuit which Technical Director Adrian Newey describes as the Milton Keynes team's "bogey ground".
"I think we have a great car and this time we got it right in qualifying," he added.
"Looking forward to the race tomorrow, it's going to be interesting.
"Making the tyres last around here is quite tricky. We've seen it, not so much last year because it was wet, but especially the year before. So it should be a good race and I'm looking forward to it."
And although he continued to insist he didn't have 'unfinished business' with the Circuit Gilles Villeneuve in wake of last year's race when a last-lap slip let in Jenson Button, he admitted he wants to add a race win here to his collection.
"Obviously at that moment [last year] it hurt a little bit because the victory was so close but in the end it was a tough race and easy to do mistakes which we didn't expect for me in the last half a lap which cost us the victory," he said.
"It's 2012 now and I think we had a quite decent 2011 so it's not too bad. But of course it would be nice [to win]."
Hamilton had almost as much reason for satisfaction given that McLaren team-mate Jenson Button only squeaked through to the Qualifying Three shoot-out courtesy of Pastor Maldonado, on course for a top-ten grid slot, crashed out on his final run in Q2. Yet while Button's struggles are now amounting to a slump, Hamilton seems revitalised and back to his best - even if, on this occasion, his best was not enough to trump Vettel.
"It was definitely a bit harder for us today and we had to push extremely hard to turn the tyres on. I'm very happy with the performance and very surprised to see ourselves on the front row. We'll take it."
Nor was Alonso to be outdone in the happy stakes as he reflected on Ferrari's continued revival, with the F2012, complete with brand-new exhaust format, now a very different beast to the dog of two months ago.
"We feel much happier with the car, both Felipe and me feels better with the grip and the balance. We'll never stop but at the moment we are happy extremely happy and extremely grateful to the guys in the factory," said the Spaniard.
Somehow, you suspect, for all 2012's vast unpredictability, it's a racing certainty that Sunday's grand prix will be a three-driver race.
Give Greece a chance, say tourist business owners - BBC News
Dimitris Thalassinos, 75, is tired. He is serving his last customer before packing up for the day. Most days he is at his shop in Athens' ancient Pandrossou street market for 12 hours.
But today he is leaving early.
"We used to have families coming here, on their way to the Acropolis," he says handing change back to an American student. "Now it's mostly couples. It's quieter now."
Like many others working in the industry he is concerned about the slump in tourism. Although last year was a profitable one, in the few weeks since May's inconclusive elections, bookings have plummeted by 50%, according to George Drakopoulos, general director of the Association of Greek Tourism Enterprises (SETE).
At the front of his store hangs a picture of his younger self, eager to begin a new business.
It reminds him, he says, of how things have changed: "Life is different in the market now. We don't know each other as well as we used to. But we are trying to change that."
Join togetherHe and his fellow shopkeepers have decided it's time to unite.
Their peak season has already begun and they are not prepared to wait around for a stable government to be formed and come up with a plan of action to save the industry.
The shopkeepers, many in their seventies, have navigated their way through social media and rebranded the market.
“Start Quote
End Quote Onic Palandjian Up GreektourismWe need to show other Greeks that if each of us tries to do something small for our country, then a lot can be achieved”
Through its Facebook page, each shop owner gets a chance, not only to showcase their products globally, but also to tell their stories through old photographs of the market which they post to the site.
It even has a new logo.
It is a refreshing alternative to the Athens portrayed almost every day in the news: strikes, neo-Nazi protests, people so poor they're trawling through bins for food.
Broadcasts on television screens across the world hardly conjure up an ideal image of Greece as a top tourist destination.
FallingLast week Greece's Central Bank announced a 15.1% drop in tourism receipts compared with the same period last year.
The depressing figures have prompted many Greeks - like the Pandrossou shopkeepers - to do the job of marketing Greece themselves.
Last month New Yorkers would have noticed a huge billboard displaying the turquoise waters of the Greek Mediterranean overlooking Times Square.
It was not paid for by the Greek government, but by a voluntary group called Up Greek Tourism - set up by Yorgos Kleivokiotis, a Greek living in Doha.
He cannot stand to see his country in the position it is in.
His passion for his homeland inspired him and the rest of his team to raise more than $20,000 through crowdfunding .
"We are not competing with the government," says Onic Palandjian, who heads the Up Greek Tourism office in Athens, "but the fact is if ministers were given $20,000, they would never have accomplished this.
"We need to show other Greeks that if each of us tries to do something small for our country, then a lot can be achieved."
Secrets shared“Start Quote
End Quote Alexandros Trimis DopiosMost Athenians are excited and proud to be a part of their community. They want to share it and show people their city through their eyes”
Their message is spreading.
In San Francisco, a group of Greek students keen to introduce tourists to the "real" Greece have formed Dopios, which means "local" in Greek.
It pairs visitors with Athenian locals.
"We wanted to give people the chance to fall upon the little secrets that no travel guide will tell you about," says Alexandros Trimis, one of the team which is launching the service in June.
"Most Athenians are excited and proud to be a part of their community. They want to share it and show people their city through their eyes."
The country's beaches, its sea and its weather remain unaffected by Greece's troubles and although the country's economic and political structure is tottering, its archaeology, of course, also remains intact.
But still tourist numbers continue to slide.
So far this year there has been 25-30% drop in German tourists alone, according to SETE.
Dionysian attractionIf those tourists are to return, they must be reminded of Greece's positive attributes in a coherent and organised way.
The self-help schemes, like Dopios and Pandrossou Street Market are a nice idea, but may not be enough to create the impact needed to achieve the much-needed substantial increase in bookings.
Peter Economides, brand strategist and founder of the international campaign "Give Greece a Chance", says Greeks have lost their way and now every single Greek must be involved in rebranding their country.
He says the image foreigners have of Greece and its people is Dionysian - fun-loving, but disorderly and chaotic. Like the 1960s film of the novel Zorba the Greek and its wily and anarchic central character, it is a distortion of an idea.
"Perhaps at one point," he says, "it was this lifestyle that attracted the tourists to Greece. But in the mind of many today, Zorba has become everything that is bad - a tendency to be lazy, to cheat, to avoid work."
With tourism representing 16% of the economy, Greece's new government cannot afford to waste time in reigniting the sector it so desperately needs to get through the crisis it is in.
It is no wonder Dimitris Thalassinos is tired after his long shift at Pandrossou street market.
For he and others like him carry a heavy burden.
Not only must they make a living from the tourism industry, they must also attempt to save it and in so doing, give the Greek economy the lifeline it so desperately needs.
Conexus Financial Elevates Event Management Efficiency and Volume with Floktu - new Cloud Based Event Management Software - YAHOO!
A case study on how Conexus Financial, a fast growing professional services firm specializing in publishing and events for high-end financial services, adopted a new on-line cloud based events management platform and in doing so doubled its productivity and enabled expansion into global markets incl. the US and China.
Sydney, Australia (PRWEB) June 09, 2012
Conexus Financial is a specialized, independently owned, Australian publishing and events company based in Sydney. Their high profile, discerning clientele includes recognized leaders in the financial services and institutional banking arenas. With value-added products spanning both the institutional and retail financial services sectors, Conexus Financial is able to support businesses domestically in Australia and around the globe.Conexus has grown rapidly during the past several years as a result of its client-centric philosophy, now touting its status as one of the world’s best practice events management organizations. The company’s extensive editorial contacts and industry expertise coupled with its comprehensive events management capability make it unique among its competition. As such, Conexus remains in high-demand, with events staged and publications read globally. Its publications include the Investment Magazine, I&T News, the Professional Planner, and the preeminent Top 1000 Funds web portal.
The Business Position:
In 2010, senior management at Conexus Financial, directed primarily by Ms. Rayma Creswell, determined that the company would need to pinpoint strategies for dramatically improving events management efficiencies so that it could expand its Australian and global business. Specifically, the company needed to boost the quantity of events it could comfortably manage while still accommodating a growing client list. All of this had to be accomplished without losing its hard earned reputation for delivering superior quality and attention-to-detail, as this helped to ensure high ratings from delegates and differentiated its work from its competitors.
“While looking to boost efficiencies, we’re not interested in high-volume, low-quality events,” explained Ms. Creswell. “The quality of the overall experience for our delegates remains paramount – from marketing to registration, scheduling, feedback, social events, and post-event-management reporting.”
Ms. Creswell and her team knew that raising productivity would require a shift from the old world of managing events manually offline, which employed excel spreadsheets and basic documents offering minimal real-time interaction, to one based on a sophisticated, automated, and advanced cloud-based platform.
The Internet was clearly the future. But the key challenge was in finding a way to integrate Internet or online technologies into the Conexus Financial events management culture – a far from straightforward prospect.
The Technical Position:
As an events management and media company, Conexus Financial lacked a large in-house technical team. The company knew technology would play an increasingly important role in its ability to deliver on its brand promise to clients.
Conexus Financial decided to evolve its technology structure from one founded in-house using license-based software to one that no longer required servers on its premises nor the associated maintenance and labour costs.
During the company’s assessment of its event management technology platform, senior managers identified a clear potential for significant productivity improvements by evolving from its old-world system to an online, real-time event management platform based in the cloud.
To accomplish this, Conexus Financial made the strategic decision to migrate its event management technology platform onto a primarily cloud-based Software as a Service (SaaS) model. The company initially contracted with a developer that had built its reputation as a market leader. However, it quickly became apparent that the nature of the offering from that vendor would not suit the needs of Conexus Financial. Specifically, the company did not provide the level of attention to detail Conexus expected, lacked customization support beyond registration, and was not based in Australia, limiting its ability to provide the support required for high-quality events.
The Solution:
Despite their disappointment in their first vendor choice, Conexus still believed that a cloud-based SaaS model – executed properly – would help the company reach its goals. So the company researched a number of alternative solutions providers, soon coming across Floktu, an Australian based high-end provider of state-of-the-art events management solutions.
Impressed, Conexus Financial approached Floktu in 2010.
Floktu’s out-of-the-box event management solution provides a robust content management system and administration function to help organizers intuitively build functional, custom-branded and professionally designed websites complete with real-time online updates, web-based ticketing and registration forms, automated RSVP emails, real-time schedules, speaker profiles, event locations and maps, and a range of relevant news, photos, and videos.
The Floktu system also includes mobile applications. Mobile applications assist organisers in promoting their event website and communicating with delegates across all digital channels. Each website feature is easily and intuitively administered under one secure login, driving productivity enhancements and cost reductions.
Floktu worked closely with key stakeholders at Conexus to identify a nexus between its out-of-the-box event management software suite and Conexus Financial’s unique business needs. The Floktu development team then designed a customized software edition to align with Conexus’ workflow complete with a wizard-driven events management and marketing platform to streamline the creation of multiple events.
The Results:
According to Conexus Financial, this platform continues to exceed their expectations, with functionality that includes:
-
Self-service, online event ticketing and registration.
- Multiple event marketing and promotion via web, email, and social digital channels.
- Intuitive content management for real-time updates.
- Comprehensive on-the-fly reporting and analytics.
- Custom event styling and branding.
Conexus Financial noticed immediate results after implementing the Floktu event management platform. Ms. Creswell now considers Floktu not only a software vendor but instead an essential strategic business partner. Because the platform is so easy to use, Conexus administrators avoid time-consuming training and the associated downtime. Floktu is fun to use and highly efficient, freeing employees to focus on more important customer and logistical responsibilities.
The Floktu platform has enabled Conexus Financial to:
- Double its productivity and acquire more events across a larger spectrum of geographies including organizations in China and the United States.
- Dramatically reduce the labour and software cost of events management.
- Propel its competitive stance by generating highly accurate, real-time analytics on delegate event satisfaction.
- Notably enrich the delegate experience and client loyalty by better managing off-site social engagements.
The Floktu platform enables Conexus Financial to provide its delegates with an unprecedented level of information before, during, and after attended events. This is particularly crucial for fostering client loyalty, explained Ms. Creswell, with Conexus Financial now able to offer delegates up-to-date changes regarding speaking times, speaker streams, exhibits, recommended restaurants, sightseeing, and other on- and off-site activities.
Going forward, Conexus Financial aims to evaluate incorporation of an even greater range of benefits for its clientele, with the newfound confidence that it can do so with the support of one of the most innovative events management software providers on the market.
About Floktu:
Floktu is an advanced, cloud-based event management solution that is provided as a full-featured, out-of-the-box platform. The Floktu development team is also available to consult with companies and design a custom adaptation to suit their precise needs. While other basic products exist that address different web-based event management functions, Floktu is the first event management software platform to bring web, mobile and marketing an event under one unified platform without requiring any technical or programming experience. Floktu makes the end-to-end process more transparent, more efficient, and far more enjoyable than ever possible before.
Nick Deverell - Sales Director
Floktu
+ 61 2 9919 6968
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