I’ve been waiting for this for a LONG time. The LEDC non-profit filings for last fiscal year.
They skimmed an all-time high of $534,327 from the taxpayer last year – up a whopping 15% from the previous year’s $466,975. There’s your inflation for you.
Of course, expenses rose over TWICE as fast –up 34%($255,000 versus $191,000 previous year).
That revenue amount (skimming tax dollars) is up SEVENTY PERCENT from 2019 – right before Covid. That’s a CAGR of 14.3% (the amount skimmed in 2019 was $313,229).
I’m pretty sure the population of Lampasas didn’t grow 14.3% per year – therefore, we are looking at a combo of inflation and increased spending thanks to stimmy checks. I suspect next year’s filings will see a marked slowdown.
But let’s get to the juicy shit:
Part I (13) shows grants (free money given away by the LEDC) of $55,128.
If you follow the many directions and schedules, you are eventually pointed to Schedule I, part I and II. There you find the following:
Does the organization maintain records to substantiate the amount of the grants or assistance, the grantees’ eligibility for the grants or assistance, and the selection criteria used to award the grants or assistance?
The answer given is NO
So, they skimmed $534,000 in taxpayer monies, handed out about 10% of that to persons/organizations unknown. Probably some of it went to shit like Vision Lampasas, Spring Ho events, etc. Which is fine. So where did the other 90% go??
Well, “other expenses” were $254,768.
When we go to Part IX, column (A), lines 11a–11d, 11f–24e to see what that entails, we find:
Legal expenses of $2,315. Advertising and promotion $5,386 (advertising the empty business pork year after year). Travel $2,993 (for the now-resigned Ybarra to fuck around at useless conventions).
Depreciation/amortization of $115,775.
Interest payments of $87,115.
“Other” expenses of $9,967. Ybarra bar tabs? Kickbacks to somebody? Who knows.
“Professional services” of $15,096. What services? Paid to whom? It doesn’t bother with that stuff.
“Admin and overhead” of $12,000. It has been $12k forever. This is money they pay to the City for all the “hard work” they do for them ‘administrating’ and stuff.
“Office equipment and maintenance” $2,440 – what office and equipment do you need to maintain if you’re ALREADY paying the City $1,000 per month for “administration and overhead”?
If you want to see how bad some of this slush fund stuff is, may I direct you to some previous filings in the following post from almost FIVE years ago:
OUTRAGEOUS Tidbits From LEDC Non-Profit Filings
‘Business Park’ Is Huge Piece of Pork. Pope Eckermann and Others Feasting On Taxpayer Ass