Important News - Dec. 30
By Daniel at 30 December, 2009, 1:11 pm
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“I’ve never witnessed anything like it. It’s unprecedented,” said Sullivan, who has worked in the state’s assessment agency since the mid-1960s. Many homeowners will not see corresponding declines in their tax bills come July 1, however, officials warned, unless local governments reduce the tax rate, which is unlikely because they need the revenue.
“PARIS, Dec 30 (AFP) — France’s public debt soared to a record high level in the third quarter in response to anti-crisis stimulus spending and now amounts to about 75.8 percent of gross domestic product, the INSEE statistics agency said Wednesday.
The third quarter debt ratio was up by 1.9 points from the second quarter and well in excess of the 60 percent stipulated in the Maastricht Treaty that established the financial basis of the eurozone.
The French government has predicted that the ratio will reach 77.9 percent by the end of 2009 and 84 percent in 2010.”
“The White House estimates that the government will have to borrow about $3.5 trillion more over the next three years. On top of that, the U.S. Treasury has to refinance, or roll over, a huge amount of short-term debt that was issued during the financial crisis. Treasury officials estimate that about 36% of the government’s marketable debt - about $1.6 trillion will mature in the next 12 months.
That leaves the government in the same undesirable position as a lot of people who took out adjustable rate mortgages (ARMs) - forced to refinance short-term debt at higher interest rates for the long term.
“The government is on teaser rates,” Robert Bixby, executive director of The Concord Coalition, a nonpartisan group that advocates lower deficits, told The Times. “We’re taking out a huge mortgage right now, but we won’t feel the pain until later.”"
“Davidson County taxpayers could be on the hook for $2.65 billion in unfunded retirement benefits for Metro employees in the coming decades — a problem many state and local governments are facing, according to a report released by the nation’s comptroller.”
“A new study by economists at the New York Federal Reserve suggests that “effective” homeownership rates have fallen as much as 25 to 45 percent below actual homeownership rates in metropolitan markets that have been hit hardest by falling property values.
Nationally, homeownership peaked at 69 percent in the third quarter of 2006, but the official homeownership rate “will experience significant downward pressure” in the coming years, according to the staff report as dramatic increases in negative equity reduce incentives to own rather than rent.”
Comptroller Thomas DiNapoli said in a statement that the state “is literally down to petty cash” as it faces a $1.3 billion Medicaid payment and $2.2 billion in property tax relief and school aid payments on Wednesday. Those payments could push the state’s closing cash balance into negative territory for the first time in at least 15 years, depending on how much revenue the state takes in on Wednesday, according to Jennifer Freeman, a spokeswoman for DiNapoli. As of Tuesday, New York had only an estimated $3.2 billion of cash on hand.
- Saxplayer00o1
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