Thursday, December 3, 2009

“Interest-free loans raise ire in Colwood (Business Examiner)” plus 3 more

“Interest-free loans raise ire in Colwood (Business Examiner)” plus 3 more


Interest-free loans raise ire in Colwood (Business Examiner)

Posted: 03 Dec 2009 04:00 PM PST

Despite some vocal opposition, Colwood didn't put the brakes on interest-free loans for electric bikes and computers to city staff.

Council approved an overhaul of the City's policy manual last week — the first "whole-sale review of policies" since incorporation," said Coun. Gordie Logan. The manual covers aspects of City business such as how correspondence is handled to public art and community amenity contributions.

Controversy swelled over the inclusion of interest-free loans for staff to purchase personal computers and electric bikes. The computer loan was adopted in the 1990s, while the bike loan was introduced this year. Staff are required to repay the loan within 36 months and efforts must be made to buy products locally.

Councillors Ernie Robertson and Brian Tucknott, as well as Mayor David Saunders opposed the bike loan policy. Supporting these loans at this time is a "slap in the face to those staff that were recently laid off," Tucknott said. "I think it's amoral. We need to keep our hands out of pensioners pockets and people who are unemployed."

Saunders said he supported staff's vision, but it is not the right time to introduce new loans for staff. He stated a preference for the loans to collect interest.

It is important the City look at creative ways to help staff lower municipal greenhouse gas emissions, he said. Under provincial government direction, the City needs to be carbon neutral by 2012 and reducing vehicle use plays a role in that, he said.

Robertson was more passionate in his response, stating the bike loan is nothing more than an example of some politicians taking the city "in a kookie direction," Roberston said. While he is not opposed to green initiatives, fiscal responsibility to the taxpayer must come first, he said.

Residents raised concerns over the city lending money to staff when taxpayers are facing increasing tax hikes.

"I see it as an absolute disgrace," said Rob Crawford. "It is surely clearly the thin edge of the wedge. It this starts here, heaven knows where it is going to end."

Members of the public and council referenced a potential 25 per cent tax increase for 2010, however, there has been no formal discussion on the tax rate. A committee of the whole meeting is scheduled for Dec. 14 to start budget talks. The initial number will include core services and supplemental items, said city administrator Chris Pease, which will be whittled down by council.

"All we know is that it's a double digit number," Pease said.

For those councillors endorsing the loans, the benefit of supporting staff outweighed the small costs associated with the loans.

"I don't see that as nonessential to the City," said Coun. Shaun Wyseicki. "We want to continue to be an employer of choice in the region."

reporter@goldstreamgazette.com

v2

This content has passed through fivefilters.org.



image

Letters: Streamline process of modifying loans (USA Today)

Posted: 02 Dec 2009 09:08 PM PST

Education

Editorials, Debates |  Columns |  Letters

Election '08

Editorials, Debates |  Columns |  Letters

Immigration

Editorials, Debates |  Columns |  Letters

Iraq

Editorials, Debates |  Columns |  Letters

Reforming Washington

Editorials, Debates |  Columns |  Letters

Terrorism

Editorials, Debates |  Columns |  Letters

Your Freedoms

Editorials, Debates |  Columns |  Letters

This content has passed through fivefilters.org.



image

This posting includes an audio/video/photo media file: Download Now

TD Bank Financial Group posts flat profit for 4Q (AP via Yahoo! News)

Posted: 03 Dec 2009 10:47 AM PST

NEW YORK – TD Bank Financial Group, a Toronto-based company that operates in the U.S. and Canada, on Thursday posted flat fiscal fourth-quarter profit, as gains in its wholesale banking unit and its Canadian operations offset declines in its U.S. retail bank and a hike in the money it set aside to cover bad loans.

For the quarter ended Oct. 31, the bank earned $1.01 billion Canadian dollars ($941.8 million) or $1.12 Canadian cents per share ($1.04) down from $1.01 billion Canadian or $1.22 Canadian per share last year.

Adjusted for investment losses, restructuring and integration charges related to the acquisition of Commerce Bank, and other items, the bank earned $1.3 billion Canadian ($1.22 billion) or $1.46 Canadian cents per share ($1.36).

Analysts polled by Thomson Reuters expected the company to post profit of $1.30 per share for the quarter. Analysts typically exclude one-time gains and losses from their estimates.

Net interest income, or money earned from deposits, rose 15 percent to $2.83 billion Canadian ($2.63 billion) from $2.45 billion Canadian last year. Non-interest income, or money earned from fees and charges, jumped 59 percent, to $1.89 billion Canadian ($1.77 billion), from $1.19 billion Canadian in the 2008 fourth quarter.

TD Bank increased its provision for credit losses, or money set aside to cover souring loans, by 81 percent to $521 million Canadian ($485.8 million) from $288 million Canadian in the year-ago quarter.

Profit in the U.S. personal and commercial banking unit slid 24 percent, excluding restructuring and integration charges, due to higher loan losses, the company said. The integration of Commerce and TD Banknorth was completed in the period.

Profit slipped 8 percent in its wealth management unit, which includes the parent company's equity share in online broker TD Ameritrade.

Offsetting those declines, earnings in its Canadian personal and commercial banking unit rose 4 percent.

And its wholesale banking unit reversed a substantial year-ago loss to post record net income of $372 million Canadian ($346.9 million.) The unit derives its profit from capital markets, corporate lending and investing activities.

For the year, TD Bank reported profit of $3.12 billion Canadian ($2.91 billion) or $3.47 Canadian cents per share ($3.24), down from $3.83 billion Canadian, or $4.88 Canadian cents per share, last year. Adjusted profit for 2009 came to $4.72 billion Canadian ($4.4 billion), or $5.35 Canadian cents per share ($4.99.)

In afternoon trading, TD Bank shares fell $1.27 to $63.19.

This content has passed through fivefilters.org.



image

Library stops interstate loans due to budget cuts (The Bristol Press)

Posted: 03 Dec 2009 01:36 PM PST

BRISTOL — As a way to cut costs and cope with a tight budget, the Bristol Public Library no longer offers patrons the chance to borrow books from out of state.

"I could not justify it any longer, as many libraries couldn't," said library director Francine Petosa.

The library continues to offer loans from other Connecticut libraries.

Petosa said an online vendor charged the library a fee for every search it made for a book outside the Connecticut library system.

"We were doing a fairly large volume," Petosa said.

Beth Stavola, supervisor of reference services at the library, said when they did out-of-state borrowing, it added up to dozens of items a month.

Ending out-of-state borrowing "was a big loss to us," according to Stavola, who said she hopes it can one day be restored in better economic times.

Now, if a book isn't available locally or at any Connecticut library, Stavola said, "We're completely stuck. We probably average about 40 a month that we can't get at all."

Stavola said a few people have complained, but she said they understand right away when they learn the service fell to a budget cut.

"It was very expensive," Stavola said.

A pool of about 20 regular patrons made up about half the requests, Stavola said, sometimes with "more esoteric requests" for materials from small or university presses, and typically non-fiction books.

The rest of the requests came from the general pool of library users.

Sometimes, the volume requested would be an expensive book that the library couldn't afford to have on the shelf, according to Stavola, or something pertaining to a certain geographic region that only a local library would have reason to keep.

Other items might include personal memoirs or genealogical material, she said.

Petosa said the Bristol library was one of the last to end the practice of offering out of state loaning and borrowing.

"A lot of libraries have discontinued doing this because of the fee," Petosa said.

The change, which took effect July 1, saves the library "several thousand dollars a year," Petosa said. "I think people have been disappointed, but they understand."

Despite the fact that she eliminated the out-of-state searches, Petosa said library business within Connecticut is brisk.

"We're seeing a tremendous increase in inter-library loans," Petosa said. Many library patrons around the state are checking out Bristol's collection by using an online database.

Someone from out of town who is interested in checking out a book from Bristol can even put a hold on it through the computer system, as Bristol residents also can do with their own library and others throughout Connecticut.

Just about everything that's circulated can be loaned out, Petosa said, except for brand new fiction or best sellers.

Even without the out-of-state loans, Petosa said, a comparison of September 2008 and September 2009 showed an increase in library materials loaned out and borrowed. In both years, the library loaned more items outside Bristol than it borrowed from out of town, she said.

In September 2008, the library borrowed 587 items and loaned out 619. A year later, the library borrowed 680 items and loaned out 850, Petosa said.

This content has passed through fivefilters.org.



image

0 comments:

Post a Comment