Exclusive communities get expensive...

The dirty little secret that the NIMBY's either don't realize themselves, or would rather you not know is that a growing community costs the individual less money in taxes for public services.  Reduce the growth rate and watch your individual contributions to public services grow.

The chart on my last blog post shows clearly the direction the local community is headed.

I've documented the efforts of the no-growth folks to make the community more exclusive on this blog for many years.  I intimated that this day of reckoning was coming the whole time.  But, NIMBY's instead argued that folks like me were greedy... yep... their basic tenant was that anyone that supported growth was greedy, nothing more.

Now many of these same folks are up in arms regarding increased costs for public services and possible sales tax increases (which are more like probable sales tax increases... it would be the easy thing to do... and it has been done many times before).

In the Thursday edition of the KDMiner.com there is this article reporting on a conversation held during City Council meeting last week.  Some highlights and comments to follow...

KINGMAN - What was meant to be a brief budget update Tuesday evening quickly evolved into the City Council's first overt move toward raising the citywide sales tax for the upcoming fiscal year.

...

(Financial Services Director Coral) Loyd said that, due to more than $1.5 million in state cuts and falling gas tax returns over the past several years, the city has had to dip into the general fund in order to make up the difference. She warned that continuing to do so would eventually deplete the general fund balance to the point where it could begin to negatively impact the city's bond and credit ratings. She estimated that that would probably happen once the fund drops to somewhere between $5 and 6 million, which could happen in as little as two years at the current rate.

So here is the situation, the state government is broke and won't be sending road improvement money to the folks in Kingman anymore. This means the folks in Kingman will have to pick up that tab, that is if they want maintained streets. Really, who didn't see this coming a mile away??

More...

At that point, Mayor John Salem acknowledged that the city had already cut "to the bone" and that state-shared revenues were unlikely to return anytime soon. With few other realistic options available, Salem proposed raising the city sales tax .15 percent, which would bring the combined city, county and state sales tax to an even 9 percent from the current 8.85 rate.

"This is an ongoing problem, and I propose this to the Council right now - we're not in an emergency situation, but not to address this I think would be irresponsible," Salem said. "This is probably not very politically favorable on my part, but I think it would be more irresponsible if I were to not do anything."

Sucks to be the mayor right now as I know this is not the sort of thing he wants to do (as I doubt anyone elected to this Council would want to do either). But... choices they be a wee bit limited right now. The choice would be to have crappy roads to drive on in the city or to raise a tax to pay for maintenance of the crappy roads.

The mayor is right, something has to be done... but really something should have been done a long time ago. Kicking the can down the road didn't help the community then, and it certainly is not helping now.

More from the article...

Salem was met with immediate opposition from Vice Mayor Robin Gordon and Councilwoman Carole Young, who both agreed that a sales tax increase should be a last resort, and that the city should do everything it can to cut internal costs first.

"I don't think we've done that, and until I feel confident that everything's been done," Gordon said. "We heard a lot of suggestions at (last week's) town hall meeting, some may be viable, some may not, but I don't feel we've had that discussion yet, and until I feel confident that's been done, I would not be in favor of any kind of raise in the sales tax."

Young said she did not want to place an additional burden on Kingman's already hurting business sector. She added that the city has never taken the opportunity to hold its own brainstorming session on how else to raise new revenues, something she said the city should do soon.

I wasn't at the town hall meeting so I don't know what suggestions were made that could save the day, but reading through the comments at the KDMiner.com article sort of leads to clues (liquidate assets and lay off city employees, if you don't care to read the comments). Laying off more people in a local economy on the ropes will suck but likely will be done. Selling off assets in a depressed real estate market will equal a drop in the bucket for long term issues like road maintenance.

The two comments I copied above, though, basically amounts to more can kicking down the road. I'm not trying to be critical of the two ladies at all. They are in a tough position with limited options (raise taxes or fire people).

I am basically a Tea Party kind of person. I believe, like millions of others, that us Americans are taxed enough already. I don't care much for federal programs, or state programs, but I get it and pay my taxes accordingly. I'm a bit softer on local taxes and fees only because if properly administered the effects of my tax dollars are tangible. If I am driving around town on well maintained roads, I probably don't miss the fifteen cents for every $100 dollars I spend locally (if a new tax is implemented to pay for road maintenance).

More...

Councilwoman Janet Watson, however, agreed with Salem, saying that Council would be remiss in its duties if it did not create a permanent, reliable funding source for future street maintenance costs.

"When I think about how important it is that we not let our streets continue to deteriorate year after year and we know that the HURF money is going away and what's gone is not coming back, we have no way to cover that cost," she said. "None of us want to raise taxes, I know you don't. But to be realistic, I agree we would be remiss if we didn't put together some type of plan to say ... 'We can't let our streets just become full of potholes and dirt roads.'"

The same people bitching about a possible tax will be the same people that will bitch about the potholes and dirt roads (and yet for years I, and the people with similar views, are the ones being called greedy... go figure).

Last bit from the article...

While the street department estimates it will take about $1.5 million to bring the street repair schedule back up to date, Walker pondered how much that cost would increase if the city were to continue to neglect the streets for another year or two.

"There's never a good time to raise taxes," (Councilman Keith) Walker said. "But I agree if we don't do something to start replacing that HURF money, what's the financial burden going to be on the city long-term if we let these roads get away from us? It's astronomical how much it's going to cost us."

This is precisely what the NIMBY's either intentionally, or just by ignorance, fail to realize. The anti-growth crowd stated at public meetings and even in the local media that they wanted to put the brakes on growth in Kingman. They did it, and now they will have to pay for the exclusivity they demanded... unfortunately so will everyone else that saw this coming from a mile away.  The city government could be eliminated and costs would still continue to rise for the individual in the community.  Inflation is kicking in right now, those costs only get more onerous as we kick the can down the road.

The solution I've favored, and have been called greedy for, involves attracting more dollars to the community.  If anything, to spread those costs around so that public services don't become the burden they will become. 

Really, look at the chart from the previous post.  Realize that the data that is lagging by a year.  There was only a 0.01% rate of growth in the last report, I bet costs have risen more than that since... meaning that yes you will have to contribute more and the choices of either paying more in taxes or reducing public services aren't really choices.  Both will happen.

The short sighted and closed minded NIMBY's will look to blame everyone and everything else... but the wheels were set in motion a few election cycles ago.  They wanted it, they got it... and now they are shocked that they have to pay for it.

Meanwhile I laugh at their expense.

About that 'exploding' growth here locally...

I could have named this post 'Chart Withdrawal' since it has been a mighty long time since I last posted any sort of chart on this blog (and you all know how much I love posting charts).

Today though, I fulfill that need to share some data in charted format... but it won't involve the current local market real estate market conditions (nope, don't have access to that info any longer).

If you remember (heck I barely do) a couple of times I dug up some Census data to get a look at changes in the local population.  My first post including this data was in 2008 and the Census info showed the first drop in the increase of population percentage for the first time last decade between the years 2006 and 2007 (the Census reports lag a year behind and are based on the estimated population count on July 1 of the particular year).  I then made it a point to drum up the same data the following year in 2009, and it again showed a continued slide of population growth.

The report that became available last year I didn't follow up on until today.  As it turns out there is a front page article found at the KDMiner.com site yesterday that sort of highlights the folks that wanted to put a stop to growth in Kingman.  The group went so far as to start a political action committee (yeah... lobbyists) to show just how serious they were in defeating growth in the Kingman area.  Well when you see the chart below, you will see just how effective they and their efforts were.

Okay, chart time...

According to the data, Kingman added an estimated two people to the population between 2008 and 2009.  I've linked all the resources I used to make the chart.  Please take a look for yourself, don't take my word for it.

Keep in mind that it was right around 2006 when anti growth groups began their use of scare tactics to make their case to the folks in Kingman.  It was clear that they wanted to inhibit growth and judging by the data they had an impact.

So it is clear from recent posts of mine that; one, there isn't a water resource shortage at present or even in the near future... and two, Kingman is NOT growing at a pace where it will become a large city in any of our lifetimes. 

So I guess the good news in all of this could be that the traffic problems on Stockton Hill Road will simply take care of themselves... in a few more years.  So we have that going for us.

Who needs math when you have scare tactics??

Share some comments here in a bit, but first want to share some highlights from this article in the KDMiner.com last Friday...

"The vast majority of people don't understand where their water comes from and it's not a problem or an issue until the water stops," Tom Whitmer said during Tuesday evening's Mohave County Republican Forum meeting.

Whitmer, the Arizona Water Resource Department Regional water planner, covered a variety of water-related issues in the talk.

...

Area aquifers

Some of the results of the study show that the Hualapai Valley aquifer which supplies some of Kingman's water has about 3.8 million to 10.1 million acre-feet of water and recharges at a rate of 2,000 to 3,000 acre-feet a year, Whitmer said. The Sacramento Valley aquifer, which serves both Golden Valley and Kingman, has about 3.6 million to 9.5 million acre-feet of water and recharges at a rate of about 1,000 to 4,000 acre-feet per year. The Detrital aquifer, which serves White Hills and parts of Dolan Springs, has about 1.5 to 3.9 million acre-feet of water and recharges at a rate of about 1,000 acre-feet a year, he said.

Recharge rates are affected by elevation, temperature and rainfall, Whitmer said. The problem comes when people withdraw more water from an aquifer than what is being recharged into it.

In at least two of Mohave County's aquifers, depletion could be a problem, he said. The Detrital aquifer is in the best shape, with less than 300 acre-feet a year withdrawn.

The Sacramento Aquifer is bordering on unsafe yield, he said. Approximately, 3,700 acre-feet of water is withdrawn from the aquifer a year. With a recharge rate of only 1,000 to 4,000 acre-feet a year and the current drought, the area could be taking out more water than is going in.

The Hualapai Valley Aquifer is in the most danger, he said. Approximately, 9,050 acre-feet are taken out of the aquifer every year. The recharge rate of 2,000 to 3,000 acre-feet a year can't keep up, Whitmer said.

Be sure to read the whole thing, I copied from the latter part of the article mostly.  Full disclosure, the only information I have about this meeting where this gentleman shared information comes from the article I linked above.  I'm certain that plenty more interesting bits of information was available... at least I'd hope so (it is not an in depth sit down and interview type of article).

As readers may know this 'water' issue we are having in the Kingman area becomes a topic of great conversation from time to time.

Time to take a closer look at the information shared in the KDMiner.com article.

In at least two of Mohave County's aquifers, depletion could be a problem, he said.

Could be a problem?? To be fair I'd like to know if something more specific was said. Size of the problem... how soon the problem... that sort of thing.

With a recharge rate of only 1,000 to 4,000 acre-feet a year and the current drought, the area could be taking out more water than is going in.

Again with the 'could be' stuff. I should have been at the meeting... long drive, but maybe I would have had these questions answered.

The other thing I'd want to know...

The Sacramento Valley aquifer, which serves both Golden Valley and Kingman, has about 3.6 million to 9.5 million acre-feet of water

Does that mean, on the low side, that there is 3.6 million acre feet of water that can be used??

These are answers I loved to know more about, even if it means adjusting my views on my perception of the 'water problem' we are supposed to be having.

Coming up on two years ago I wrote this blog post and I ask that you give it a read if you have the time. Covers similar examples of putting math to the data that is known, just like I am going to do with the information shared in the KDMiner.com article.

More disclosure, all data collected for the math equations that follow come from either linked media articles or linked government documents from Arizona web sites.

We will solve for the following...

the results of the study show that the Hualapai Valley aquifer which supplies some of Kingman's water has about 3.8 million to 10.1 million acre-feet of water and recharges at a rate of 2,000 to 3,000 acre-feet a year

...

Approximately, 9,050 acre-feet are taken out of the aquifer every year.

I'm up for a challenge... so we'll solve for how long it would take to use up ONLY HALF the water resources in the Hualapai Valley aquifer. Not only that, we will assume that it will never, ever, rain again in Mohave County -- so no recharge.

Still not good enough. So we will double the amount of water used annually, measured in acre feet, and round up to 20,000.

This is going to be simple math -- but double check my work anyway.

Half of the low estimate of 3.8 million acre feet equals 1.9 million acre feet.

Add Zero for recharge

Rate of water used equals 20,000 acre feet annually.

1.9 million acre fee divided by 20,000 acre feet annually equals... 95 years.

95 years to use HALF. Should I say it?? Fine, much can happen in 95 years. Leaving me to ask the question... who are we to decide on a non problem now, for what might not even be a problem then??

Unless the questions I shared earlier are answered, and the answers allows me to be swayed by facts, the math says we don't have a water resource problem. The only potential problem I see is a water resource delivery infrastructure problem... the kind that tax payers pony up for when no one else wants to invest in the area. As a tax payer I know that future costs for such improvements will be needed, even if the area is not growing. Defraying the costs with an additional amount of people equal to the current population would certainly make those high cost types of improvements easier to afford.

And this is why it is a fundamental growth issue. If the community was really thinking about helping our future generations of Kingmanite's (not even born yet) then we should be working hard and competing for local investment and development. IF the planets lined up just right and everything fell into place (which it certainly will not) it is possible that the folks here today wouldn't have to pay for any of it for years. Accounts could be set up to save money for future infrastructure needs perhaps?? (yeah, I'm being waaaayyyy too optimistic there)

I posted on the KDMiner.com site yesterday this tidbit...

Now you watch... the folks that will respond to me won't attack the math or the facts.

That was validated quickly. Too bad because it might actually be an interesting discussion and the sharing of the facts would be something I'd look forward to.

Link to more MOCO posts including public data regarding local water supply.

As seen on the local webz...

Read it here...

With great awe I read about city debates and meetings. We read about the bickering, whining, moaning and groaning of elected officials and agencies. These all seem to want growth, but no one wants to be held responsible for the lack thereof.

Is Kingman not a marketable city whereby no elected official or agency wants to take initiative in selling our city to outside businesses? Instead, every week we are reading about another business closure. These businesses are hard to replace and the jobs even harder.

Is our only city revenue-generating business the bed tax? Wal-Mart? But don't touch this money because it is allocated funding for capital improvement projects! Improve what? Where? We have heard from the mayor, City Council, Chamber of Commerce, Airport Authority. None of these agencies of people claim responsibility and do not want the growth initiative in their court. Every month that passes and our city remains unmarketed is a loss of revenue.

The gamut has run full circle and isn't it ironic that the only commission (EDMC) that wants to be where the buck stops has not enough funding to move forward to sell our city.

So why try, right??

Couple of noteworthy quotes from the latest City Council meeting...

"We all would love to see big things happen in Kingman; but the economy - it's not just here, it's everywhere," Deering said. "I don't know this commission, or any commission right now, is going to change the economic outlook of Kingman, other than time itself."

"This town has always had some plans. Otherwise, we wouldn't have had the 17-percent growth during the boom that we had," he said. "It's unfair to say we didn't have a plan. Kingman was developing, it was growing, and things were nice and rosy when the economy was good."

First of all for the most part I like outgoing councilman Deering.  I have nothing personal against the man or the councilman, I just disagree with him at times (like with the two quotes above).

Some months ago I stopped posting economic development activities that other communities are doing during even these trying times (the national economy).  If I searched today for such community efforts, no doubt I'd find plenty to share and it is easy to understand why.  Many local communities clearly understand the need to compete for new business opportunities, i.e. new opportunities for new tax revenues.  But these 'other' communities are not sitting around and waiting out the bad times in the hopes of attracting new opportunities when, or if, things get all rosy on the national economic scene.

I'm currently doing business in another area of the US southwest... a community that banded together a couple of years ago to ensure a better business opportunity within the community.  Has it worked??  Well the results are mixed but to a person that I've talked to in this new area where I'm doing a pretty brisk business, they've all said that without the efforts things would be a total mess right now (in other words, I wouldn't be doing business here).

Really, it is not difficult, just go ahead and search the interwebz for articles on business competition between states right now.  Oh... it's on.  I know of at least three western states that are courting enterprises in California (in comparison Arizona is not really one of those either... for shame).

It is safe to say that if states are competing against each other for new opportunity... local communities are in it to win it as well.

Maybe Mr. Deering made the right call to decide not to run for reelection at this time.  Kingman certainly needs leaders that want to compete for better opportunities for this community.  If Mr. Deering or any other community leader is unwilling to move Kingman forward, hopefully the voters will elect some leaders that are willing to take a shot at increasing employment opportunity, business opportunity, and community improvement.

I've always heard the age old adage that the rising tide will raise all boats... but if the tide doesn't come back for what might be an extended period of time... why not get some folks together and drag the boat out to where the water level is high enough to get on with the sailing??  I want leaders that are willing to do the heavy lifting.

Local comment of the day...

Posted: Tuesday, March 16, 2010
Article comment by: Bert Garcia


I beg to differ with you, Ray Lyons did not lose the election at all. My highly esteemed friend Ray moves on alongside three (3) others to the run-offs in May. Being a military person, I am used to making it a point to familiarize myself with my home election issues, to find out who is running for office, and to cast my ballot through the mail on time. With all due respect in addition to reading it in the Kingman Daily Miner Newspaper you could have attended the different forums where the candidates addressed the issues to the best of their ability. I personally attended two (2) of their presentations at the Elks Lodge and at the Community College where it was televised to be shown at a later time, Dick Anderson took the extra step to send me a post card in the mail to let me know where he stands on the issues, also local TV station aired the Community College Forum in the community 3 or 4 times. Erin Cochran was gracious enough to personally speak me about the clean city issues at length and even made a point to walk with me where unauthorized dump sites are located in a five (5) mile area in my neighborhood. As a volunteer driver during election day, I gladly provided a ride to a voter to and from the polling place. Finally, I must say that where there is a will to exercise your right to vote, there is a way to cast your ballot. So please cast your vote in May for the City Council Elections.

Polls are closed...

Now that the polls are closed I'm watching the Mohave County website for the results of today's election in Kingman.  I will post the results when they are available.

As of 7:10pm there are no reported results on the website.

As of 9:21pm... nothing on the Mohave County website.

As of 10:16pm... these are the results for the city council race...

CANDIDATE -- # of votes -- Percentage

ANDERSON, DICK --  797  --  47.36%
COCHRAN, ERIN  --  711  --  42.25%
LYONS, RAY  --  711  --  42.25%
MOSSBERG, ALLEN  --  811  --  48.19%
WATSON, JANET  --  962  --  57.16%
Write-in Votes  --  345  --  20.50%

Another crappy turnout in number of voters.  Out of the 16,189 registered voters, only 1,683 bothered voting in the primary. 

As it looks and as I understand it, the results tonight indicate that Janet Watson has retained her seat on the council... and the remaining two seats will be decided in the general election later on in May of this year (Anderson, Cochran, Lyons, and Mossberg will be in the final run-off). 

View all results here

I would have liked to have been surprised tonight, but instead am a bit disappointed.  

Polls are open!!

Folks, if you live in Kingman don't forget that today is election day.  Six fellow neighbors are on the ticket for city council seats and the community needs to hear from you (one candidate for mayor).

This time around I wish we could vote for five of the candidates for council, but we can only choose three.  The only candidate that I wouldn't vote for is the one that stated in a city council meeting that she wouldn't want her neighbor to have a windmill in their own backyard.  Now that isn't the only reason, but I've watched that particular candidate for some years now botch property rights issues here in Kingman.

I'm rather impressed with a couple of particular candidates, and hope that they've done all the work needed to get the vote out -- cause they will need it.

And still, I find no particular weaknesses to the other three candidates for council.  A very interesting choice as to who to vote for awaits Kingman voters today.

Good luck to all the candidates on this day.

Poll added for City Council...

Look over to the right there on the sidebar and cast your 'choice' for only one of the candidates currently running for Kingman's City Council.

If you want, please comment below for reasons you are supporting the one candidate in this poll.

I know that come election time voters will be allowed to choose three candidates on the official ballot, what MOCO readers want to know is why you think one particular choice is the best for the future of Kingman.

January Listings Report (2010)

You bet, it sure has been awhile since I posted a listings report... or any report for that matter. Have to say that I've been a bit busy to faithfully produce such reports, but at least I have continued to track the data. I've also decided to slim down the listing reports to some degree (basically won't be offering the previous months data in order to save me some time).

So what have you missed over the last couple of months?? In a nutshell... prices continue to slide (yet sellers still haven't totally figured that out) and sales activity has picked up the pace. Yep... pretty much like it was all of last calendar year.

I owe you a couple of other reports... I will be doing the January sales report later this month and in the next few days I'll probably get the annual report out.

So without further ado... the disclaimer...

Disclaimer... all data compiled for this report comes from the WARDEX Data Exchange and does not include any sales activity from outside that resource. All research is done only on single family homes and there is no inclusion of modular homes, commercial properties, or vacant land. The geographical area researched includes; all areas within the boundaries of the city of Kingman, north Kingman, the Hualapai Mountain area, and the Valle Vista subdivisions. Click here to see maps of the included area's.

Data tables for all new listings tracked in the month of January 2010

As of February 1 Total Listings on Market

Item	Total Units
Total Listings On Market	373
Total Listings Listed as Foreclosed	76

New Listing Data

Item	Month of January
New Listings Total	92
New Listings Listed as Foreclosed	46
Average Asking Price Per Unit	$119,212
Median Asking Price	$99,900
Average Asking Price Per Square Foot	$78
Units Re-Listed	10
Units Already Under Contract	22

New Listing House Data

Item	Month of January
Living Area Square Footage	1,536
Bedrooms	3.04
Bathrooms	1.98
Garage	1.65
Year Built	1992

Price Range of New Listings in January

Item	Lowest	Highest
Listings	$23,900	$375,000

See you weren't really missing out on anything here... the only stat that jumps out at me is the fact that half of the new listings were of the foreclosed on variety. The largest such invasion by the banks by percentage since I've been keeping track. Human sellers, I guess, have tired.

And even though the inventory of active listings is down as compared to years past, it hasn't meant the end of the issues surrounding excess inventory... at least not yet.

Data tables for all new Units under contract tracked in the month of January 2010

As of February 1 Total Units Under Contract

Item	Total Units
Total Units Under Contract	114
Total Contracts Listed as Foreclosed	57

Units Under Contract Data

Item	Month of January
New Contracts Total	67
New Contracts Listed as Foreclosed	42
Average Marketing Price Per Unit	$99,588
Median Marketing Price	$74,450
Average Marketing Price Per Square Foot	$65
Days on Market to Acquire a Contract	134
Average Marketing Price Reduction	$14,597

New Units Under Contract House Data

Item	Month of January
Living Area Square Footage	1,539
Bedrooms	3
Bathrooms	2.07
Garage	1.7
Year Built	1992

Price Range of New Pending Contracts in January

Item	Lowest	Highest
Listings	$19,900	$424,900

And here it is just a slaughter by the banks. Banks control the clear majority of the action in this local real estate market. Basically... nothing to see here, move along now... move along.

Year over year data listings/pending contracts

Listings

Item	UP/DOWN	unit/dollar amount	Percentage
Total Listings	DOWN	125	(25%)
New Listings January	UP	2	2%
Average Price per New Listing	DOWN	$55,928	(32%)
Median List Price	DOWN	$35,000	(26%)

Pending Contracts

Item	UP/DOWN	unit/dollar amount	Percentage
Total Pending Contracts	UP	26	30%
New Contracts for January	UP	12	22%
Average Marketing Price per Unit	DOWN	$31,860	(24%)
Median Marketing Price	DOWN	$27,500	(26%)

The average price of a newly listed unit for sale was way down in January of 2010... lower than it has ever been according to the records I have kept and we should expect it to continue to be the case as long as banks are putting up half the new listings every month (banks really get the idea of competition and are definitely motivated to sell). It's just down to the question of how low can they go in regards to prices.

No promises, but I hope to get back on the horse (so to speak) and get these reports out on a once again consistent basis. Stay tuned.

'The Big Dummy' speaks... (no not me)...

No doubt that I read the KDMiner.com pages for the latest -- almost -- daily information about things happening in the Kingman area. It is the only such media outlet that is -- almost -- daily that puts their articles, opinions, etc. online for all to see. The content that is produced by the employees at the Miner is what it is... and since it has no competition, again online, it is the best available. However, to me the 'gold' I find at the KDMiner.com site comes from the content that the readers leave on either articles or opinion pieces.

I found a couple of comments that I wanted to further spotlight here on MOCO and they will appear below. Click here for the link to the letter to editor from Wednesday's edition. Go ahead and read the original letter for complete context where the following two posts are addressing. The title of the letter is 'Smart' people back at it again.

The two responses come from the same person who uses the moniker 'The Big Dummy', and here is the first one... with some of my thoughts along the way...

Posted: Thursday, January 28, 2010
Article comment by: The Big Dummy

Mr.Stultz and other naysayers,

You clearly don’t know much of anything but rumors about the Griffith power plant, power plants in general, electric distribution, or electric markets. Before you try to compare Griffith to any other power project you should know something about which you speak first.

For yours and other’s edification I’ll lay out some accurate information for you.

I love it so far... and it gets so much better.

About 25 people work at the Griffith plant and last time I talked with an acquaintance there all but one called Mohave County home. That’s about the number they said would work there when the project was proposed. Don’t believe it? Check the Miner archives. Unlike a solar plant, every one of Griffith’s workers need to be a skilled power plant technician. A lot of jobs at photovoltaic and concentrating solar plants are window washers that don’t need to know a lot nor do they get paid that well. I expect the core number of skilled plant operators at one of these new solar plants will be about the same as Griffith. In any case, Griffith never promised large numbers of permanent workers so why are you complaining?

So much good stuff here... I love the 'check the Miner archives' thing there -- which of course most folks against new development simply won't do. The part about have skilled technicians... yeppers... important in this kind of investment and endeavor. Having newly relocated higher skilled level employees will not be a bad thing for this community or it's tax base.

If you are still not happy that at least 24 of our own got great paying jobs at Griffith, something you do need to think about is how many local businesses are still in business, benefit, or have increased their staff because of Griffith? It is likely local repair shops like RAM Enterprises, Laron Engineering, Sky Hi crane, United Rental, and others are happy to have places like Griffith around. If more power plants get built in our area these businesses are likely to expand and new businesses start up. Power plants need skilled workers to support them during times of major unscheduled and scheduled repair and upgrades. The point, Mr. Stultz, is that large industries often create even more decent jobs indirectly.

Sounds exactly like economic development to me.

County water records show that since Griffith began operation in 2001 it has averaged under 1000 gpm; or under 1613 acre ft per year. That is well below what they could use. The plant has always paid all the County expenses in maintaining and operating the wells. The plant also checks the aquifer level every month and sends the data to the County and guess what, it’s all at the County Water Department for you to see and believe it or not the Sacramento Aquifer is not being sucked dry by Griffith. I can’t remember if the USGS survey identified localized water level depression in the Griffith well field but if they did, so you and other know, that phenomenon is common and normal around an active well. There are limits to those depressions to protect aquifers against subsidence; and yes Griffith also has to do aquifer subsidence surveys annually in accordance with ADEQ. Maybe Mohave Engineering is another company happy to have Griffith around? In light of this, I have no idea where you get the information to make such a claim about the aquifer.

The water worry warts make 'claims' all the time... yet they never have any proof to back up their claims of dire emergencies lying in wait because some new projects want to move into the area.

The first water contract was that the plant paid for the water they used plus an expensive hi demand charge under certain usage conditions. However, the plant had a large amount of the water system capacity locked up in that contract. Power plants have to secure enough water to run full capacity at any time so they have to lock up that capacity. Due to the plant’s low usage it looked like there was a lot of water available and the county wanted to sell it elsewhere, which Griffith, or any other power plant, wouldn’t allow. The water contract renegotiation was a sweet deal for the County. Whether Griffith runs or not the County gets paid for the full amount of water the plant needs available. The result, the County is making a lot more money off Griffith’s water contract without supplying any more than the usual amount they use. Instead of complaining that Mr. Walker made a bad first contract, why don’t you be glad he acted in the best interest of the County, at least in this case, in realizing the deal needed to be renegotiated?

A simple estimation of the County property taxes on Griffith show that the 10 million dollar investment the County made in infrastructure for the I-40 Industrial Corridor has been, or very nearly, paid for. If I recall, I think the tax assessment on Griffith alone is right around a million dollars per year, so those taxes alone have almost paid for the entire investment. In addition, we now have the prison, Unisouce’s peaker plant, and a block making plant operating out there now. Also, property tax assessments don’t change if a facility isn’t in production for a time. For such a smart guy I can’t believe you’d make such a stupid comment.

Again... economic development.

Unless you have some inside information you can’t honestly say the plant only runs when California needs the power. But even if they did, what do you care? Is it the tired old complaint that they use our water and sell the power to another state? If so, then you’d better start complaining about Mineral Park that’s been using 3000 gpm of your water for decades and selling your copper and other minerals to companies in other states for a profit. And by the way, their mine expansion is set to raise that water consumption to 6000 gpm. What do you feel about Arizona coal that went to Nevada to make power for them? Was that a problem for you? A smart guy like you surely knows that’s how industry works. Natural resources in one area are mined, cut, fished, or whatever and shipped somewhere else for processing, or manufacture, and sometimes to another place for distribution. Are you upset that rock quarries in our area shipping boulders and gravel to Las Vegas? They have to use some of our water for dust abatement so is that okay with you if the product ends up out of state? What about those poor people in Wyoming whose natural gas gets piped down here to Arizona to keep or homes warm? Would it be okay with you if they got upset that their un-renewable natural resources go out of State and they wanted to cut us off? So we take from others but are not willing to give? Is that how it is? How is using a little of our water for local projects that also benefit other States a problem?

And I'm just willing to bet that the original letter writer or any of the many water worry wart types that comment at the KDMiner.com site won't even try to attempt to answer any of the above questions... too bad too... would love to see the spin.

Let me ask you a more pertinent question. First let’s first assume that the Hualapai solar project will run at full capacity, 24/7, for 30 years and we assume the smallest estimated quantity of water in the Hualapai aquifer of 4 million acre feet and we assume no recharge for those 30 years. In this unrealistically high estimate only 3% of the aquifer would be used. You are all so very smart, I assume you’ve already done the calculations. My question is this, knowing how small a portion of the aquifer could be used what is the basis for opposing these plants based on water use?

Simply an incredibly smart and effective way to ask a similar question that I've been asking of the water worry warts... my question simply is 'when??'. Since they won't answer my easy question they won't attempt to answer this one either. The water worry warts HAVE NO DATA TO BACK UP THEIR ASSERTIONS.

Another fact about Griffith is that it is a merchant plant. There are merchant plants all over the United States and this time of year they, like Griffith, are sitting idle because it’s not real hot, not real cold, and manufacturing facilities are not running at full capacity. Merchant plants will, however, sometimes run even under these conditions when base load plants go off line for routine or emergency repairs. So even though a merchant plant may not be on line it serves as an important backup to increase the overall reliability of the US electric grid. The location of Griffith and the grid upgrades that they provided to our tristate area have also greatly enhanced the reliability of our local power distribution system – so Mr. Stultz’s power is less likely to go out from a single transmission line failure.

Judging from the unsubstantiated claims and unreasonable comparisons you made, Donald, it looks like you might want to reconsider who the big dummy really is.

All right, maybe 'The Big Dummy' didn't have to go there... but I'm not holding it against him/her. The water worry warts have said much worse about the pro development, pro property rights, and pro free enterprise folks in the Mohave County area.

So 'there appeared a second post in response to three attempts to take 'The Big Dummy' to task... the lame responses fail to impress and the follow up comment from 'The Big Dummy' shows why.

Posted: Saturday, January 30, 2010
Article comment by: The Big Dummy

Thank you for the support Mr. Stokes and Guess Who.

WES, maybe in all your rage you didn’t notice you are arguing with me? How funny. I’m glad you are exercising your rights and are politically involved. It’s more than most do. However, I don’t think you’ll be able to sway too many people to see things your way when your comments are laced with so much hate and anger. Your passion is powerful; make sure it’s always based in truth and not anger. Good luck with your effort!

Everyone else,

Ron Walker is not behind the moniker of the Big Dummy. I’m a Mohave County citizen that because of my educational background, where, and who I work with; I have experience in and access to much of this information first hand. All sources for what I say about taxes and Griffith water use is public record. I’d be a fool to lie when the numbers are available for anyone to see. I tried very hard to present nothing as biased or intentionally un-factual. If you are a lover or a hater of using water then the facts are going to seem biased, but it’s your personal bias. The facts, by definition, cannot be biased.

Whoever 'The Big Dummy' is... I want him or her to know that they are welcome to comment on this blog site anytime... I'd honor the wish to remain anonymous as well. This is great scissor use.

I’ve not read any HVS hydrology report or been to the public meetings. I used numbers published in the Miner and some common sense conservative assumptions and ran my own simple calculations that almost any of you could do as well. According to one of the No Names I guess they match pretty close to what HVS’s people came up with. I think that’s pretty cool! That means those HVS hydrology people aren’t fudging the numbers!

I've done the math as well... it was easy and it is very difficult to argue with.

If it weren’t for my associations and concern for repercussions I’d have used my real name, and I wish I could because I believe it would actually lend credence to my comments. I do hope my thorough commentary helps cut through the misinformed rants so my fellow citizens can make an informed decision about supporting or opposing these projects.

For years I've been trying to get more people to bring forth information that can be used in public... but for whatever reason the folks with a plethora of knowledge in this area just don't nearly as often as needed. I guess they have their reasons... but we are all missing out. Again, I'd let this person posting under the moniker of 'The Big Dummy' to post here at this site.

To Ron Walker; Clearly, some citizens hate your policies very much. I personally think you and the Board could do a better job in getting information to the citizenry, it would help clear up all that distrust so many people have. Think of the positive though, now you know how these folks really feel! I am offering you an apology for un-intentionally causing people to think The Big Dummy post was from you and for bringing such vitriol out against you. I am sorry about that.

Heh.

And finally...

To the Kingman Daily Miner,

Thank you for posting my comments. Could you PLEASE do us all a favor and publish the Griffith tax assessment, summary of the terms of their water contract with the County, and the record of their water usage? Since Griffith was built there has been so much misinformation about that place; some of it your fault. For the sanity of our County, please publish the records! It’s really too much for someone to put in as a letter to the editor. If you can’t pick on just them then how about a nice spreadsheet that shows ten year averages of tax payments, water use and cost, and # of employees of the top 25 property tax paying businesses in the County for the last 10 years? You have my thanks in advance.

Yeah... how 'bout it Miner??

Like I said before, you can find gold in the comments at the KDMiner.com. The above was such an example. Would love to see more folks like this get involved in the discussion.

I'm sure the hostility will show 'em...

Could the recent political events go any better for this free enterprise and private property rights guy?? We saw the ACC Line Siting Committee pass through a recommendation for approval for one of the proposed solar projects. Also, the results of the election for Senate back east this week were sweet, where indeed party politics took a back seat and the independent voice prevailed -- which is nice. The whole global warming fraud continues to fall apart as the Copenhagen Accord begins to collapse, and even McCain Feingold fell apart.

Really... could it get any better?? That question appears to have a yes.

From the KDMiner.com...

KINGMAN - Local advocacy group Residents Against Irresponsible Development has canceled its series of monthly town hall meetings, citing its perceived poor treatment by the Kingman City Council.

Poor treatment?? Were they waterboarded or something??

Oh and advocacy group?? Give me a break... the last time they 'advocated' was for a 160 or so acre park, or was it a 17 or so acre water ditch, well in either case the political action committee is hardly a community advocate.

RAID president Harley Pettit, who himself ran a failed bid for Council two years ago, said his group decided to cancel the town halls shortly after RAID member Bill Delmar was passed up for two separate vacancies on the Planning and Zoning Commission late last year.

Certainly harsh treatment applied there, oh boy. Well nothing says we're taking our ball and going home better than the above I guess. Maybe RAID PAC should take a hint or two.

Delmar, who previously served as a planner for the Mohave County Development Services Department and has more than 20 years of planning experience, was shot down by Councilman Ray Lyons at Council's Oct. 19 meeting. Lyons dismissed Delmar for having a "conflict of interest" due to his membership in RAID. While he did not elaborate on his reasoning, Lyons claimed that, even if Delmar had agreed to resign his membership in the organization, "once a member of RAID, always a member of RAID."

"We took that as a real snub," Pettit said. "They didn't do anything about Ray Lyons' comment, and the respect that we've gained over the last several years just got thrown in our face."

What was the council supposed to do about it?? Again, perhaps RAID PAC could begin to take a hint or two.

Instead, Council appointed Realtor Sandi Reynolds to replace Todd Tarson, another Realtor. In December, Delmar was again passed over in favor of developer Craig Schritter, who replaced retiring commission chairwoman Dorian Trahan. Pettit claimed that Councilman Deering "practically leapt out of his seat" to nominate Schritter, with no discussion held on Delmar's qualifications for the job.

"Regardless of who Bill Delmar associates with, he's obviously qualified," Pettit said. "He would've been a perfect liaison between the city and the county. This guy was offering to do for free what he used to get paid for."

As someone who did sit on the Planning and Zoning Commission (yeah that is my name above), even for just a short eight months or so... I can say that what Mr. Pettit is describing about liaison between the county and the city, plus, the offering to do for free what he could get paid for does not apply to sitting on the Commission.

So long as you can read and are at least a bit curious, in my opinion, a person is qualified to serve the community on any one of the commissions. Doesn't mean you'll get a spot though.

Pettit added that he was baffled by the appointments of Reynolds and Schritter over Delmar, since he believed the case could be made that a Realtor and a developer would have a much greater potential for conflicts of interest than a retired ex-planner.

As a Realtor and a former P&Z commissioner... conflict of interest would have never come up unless I requested a zoning change (using zoning change as example), had a direct family member requesting a zoning change, or had an employment agreement with a principal requesting a zoning change. Now all are certainly plausible possibilities, however they would be very rare occurrences.

And here is the last one from the article...

"Just the complete lack of respect over a person who's completely qualified, it was beyond any common sense," he said. "I mean, I like Craig, but this just shouldn't be his job. I campaigned with him, he's a fine person, but he's a proverbial dentist in a brain surgeon job."

Wow... what an asshole thing to say in public about someone you just said you like.

Hopefully this helps end the RAID PAC's little charade here in Kingman. What a hissy fit these adults are throwing over their man not getting a seat on the P&Z commission (and Harley it is a volunteer position not a 'job').

A couple of parting shots... first I think the RAID PAC kids just might be doing this because they want to bring negative attention against a current city council member who is involved currently in an election. RAID PAC has used the Miner over the years to get their message out, though it is surprising that part of their message is calling a new P&Z commish out as not qualified.

The other thing here is... have you seen and heard this Bill Delmar at public meetings?? There is something to be said for first impressions... and if Craig Schritter is, in RAID PAC words, a dentist in a brain surgeon job then that makes Mr. Delmar an ex-planner in a brain surgeons job (no offense to planners or ex-planners).

Every time you flush...

Depending how things work out a few years down the road, every time you flush your toilet you might be helping put some decent revenue into the local city coffers.

See this article for what I'm referring to.

From that article...

KINGMAN - The Kingman City Council on Monday chose not to adopt a new policy regulating the sale of reclaimed wastewater, opting instead to indefinitely continuing the item until additional parts of the policy are clarified.

City staff drew up the new policies with assistance from the engineering firm Brown & Caldwell in anticipation of its eventual completion of upgrades to the Hilltop Wastewater Treatment Plant northeast of town.

Once the plant is finished in 2011, it will be capable of producing up to one million gallons of high-quality effluent water each day, which in turn could be sold as a cheaper substitute for potable water to businesses such as golf courses or certain industrial and agricultural companies.

The policy proposes charging $0.643 for every 1,000 gallons of reclaimed water purchased from the city.

Read the rest if you'd like -- for now though nothing is settled on the subject.

Still, I find it pretty interesting that we know of one particular party that expressed the wish to use what we all flush down the toilet (talking about a certain solar power plant).

Until some other interested parties start showing up, wanting to buy our 'crap', I thought I might add some mathematics to see if there would be any benefits to the community.

I think back to all the fuss the water worry warts espouse about a solar power plant wasting water to the tune of 4,000 acre feet a year or so and have decided that the figure is worth this exercise.

The other figure I'll use is the $0.643 per 1,000 gallons of purchased reclaimed water (as noted from the article pasted above).

So let's begin...

There are 325,851 US gallons in an acre foot of water (the article mentions that us folks in Kingman produce nearly a million gallons of waste a day that could become reclaimed water, or approximately 3 acre feet a day).

So we multiply 325,851 US gallons by 4,000 acre feet to total 1,303,404,000 US gallons a year.

Now we divide the 1,303,404,000 figure by 1,000 to arrive at 1,303,404 units of purchase.

The rest is simple, again multiply 1,303,404 times $0.643 to arrive at $838,088 and some change per year. Seems like a nice revenue shot to me, of course though I have no idea what the costs and such are to derive at a profit margin.

So what could be done with a percentage of the revenue?? Not for me to decide, but my idea would be to put some of it towards the costs to develop future water resources to the area in one form or another. But paving some roads wouldn't be such a bad idea either... or a new Interstate interchange... or simply to help balance the budget if need be.

In any case, if all this comes to pass and Kingman figures out a way to capture some revenue in this manner -- I guess I'll leave the water running when I'm brushing my teeth. Everyone's gotta do their part you know.

Kingman Colorado River allocations just another deposit in the bank.

Arizona House of Representative, Nancy McLain is keeping her promise to once again initiate a bill this coming session to pass legislation to lift the industrial use only allocation from the remaining 3500 acre feet of Colorado River water allocations still held by the city of Kingman. Water availability is a concern to all of us. Many of us fail to understand the terms, laws or the regulative authorities involved through out the State. Many base our opinion and understanding of information relayed upon what is applicable or tangible to us.

The Colorado River is regulated by the Federal Bureau of Reclamation. It would serve us well to understand that this is not State regulated water, although the state of Arizona does have authority to regulate its allotted water from the Colorado River. This is done primarily in conjunction with the Central Arizona Project, an active management area (AMA) better known as CAP. For now, forget what you may think you know about groundwater, surface water, AMA's, property rights, wells and basins. It is important that we all understand how the Colorado River allocations came to be:

http://ag.arizona.edu/AZWATER/arroyo/101comm.html

Keep in mind that this agreement created a "bank" so that receivers could maintain their allocation excesses to prevent or ease the short term drought conditions or future availability declines. This was the beginning of the term "banking water", or to bank water credits. Originally intended to be shared among the States within their designated regions, as the demand for water became more prevalent in other States, the banked water is now being looked at by the Lower Colorado River Basin States as a solution for places as far from the river itself as San Antonio, Texas. Which brings into play the yet to be determined, "third party impact".

http://cedb.asce.org/cgi/WWWdisplay.cgi?9602671

How Arizona may be affected seems alarming:

http://westernfarmpress.com/mag/farming_arizona_faces_potential/

Remember, we are talking about Colorado River allocations now, not basins or wells or even Arizona surface water. The point needs to be made that Arizona has other resources as I am sure do the other seven states benefiting from the Colorado River allocations. This is key since Mohave County is sitting on four very large basins and though most of us in our area think that the Colorado River water has nothing to do with us, it does. As these allocations become less available, our basin water will become more vulnerable to the demands of the larger populations in the southern portions of the State.

Bullhead City and Lake Havasu City are "river communities". They have been very successful in keeping up the pace with their allotted river allocations and the politics that go with preserving those allocations. They have actively participated with Phoenix in banking their allocation excesses so why would they need to change legislation to purchase the remaining 3500 ac ft of industrial use only allocations from Kingman? Two thoughts come to mind. When you "bank" water, you are not storing actual water in a big reservoir to keep in reserve for when you need it. You are banking "credits", the water doesn't exist, it is just your interest or entitlement to that water that exists. So even though they have credits or water banked in Phoenix, it does not mean that Phoenix has the actual water to back those credits up. The river level rises and falls depending upon actual rainfall/snowfall run-offs, demand of use and the codes of threat advisory Homeland Security feels the dams may be under. It cannot be accurately predicted from one year to the next. CAP banks its credits with the other participating states of the Lower Colorado River Basin, which means it may not have the available water to access to send back down the line.

The other is as simple as the reasoning behind our Nation's current economic crisis that we have all been trying to sort out, greed. It is easy to bank credits that investors and lenders earn revenues from through the trade of shared interest, and we do all love to see those statements that show that our interest or account balance has grown. (Just ask Bernie's investors) But when the water banking bubble bursts, it is going to take more than a Stimulus Plan, Bailout or printing more money to keep us afloat. It will be Mohave County's actual water supply and economic development with it on the line to secure that Bullhead City, Lake Havasu City and the great state of Maricopa continue to thrive.

Now think wells, basins and surface water. That is where the "third party impact" is going to play out for us locally. Maybe it is also time to re-think pipeline and re-visit other possible solutions or explore new options. It is past time that we started considering the influence of the Colorado River allocations to Mohave County, we have to catch up with available resource options, educate ourselves politically, become as water savvy of the Colorado River allocations as we are groundwater. Bullhead City and Lake Havasu City are very versed on the applications and terms surrounding the Colorado River allocations, for them groundwater language, specifically aquifers not regulated by AMA's, and its applications are what is lacking fluency. Do not think for one moment that will hold them back or the MCWA from selling Kingman's allocations literally, down the river.

http://www.azwaterbank.gov/awba/

October Sales Report (2009)

My bad for getting these sales reports out later and later every month, just been busy working and haven't found the time. Plus, I'm living with my wife again after almost a couple of years so blogging hasn't been as needed to pass the time nearly as much.

Well this report won't show anything all that new, but it is showing how this year is going to end up basically. It will be the best year in terms of total number of units sold since 2006 (it will come up well short of the number posted that year), and the average price will be the lowest since I started collecting this data back in 2004.

And unfortunately this year will mark another poor performance by sellers... traditional sellers that is. Banks have dominated the sales in 2009 via the foreclosure sale, and while I don't track short sales at all, it is an easy guess that banks played a big role in the final sales for the traditional sellers as well. 2009 will be the year of the bank in this market by the looks of it.

So let's get to the looks of it -- looks of it getters... after the disclaimer first of course...

Disclaimer... all data compiled for this report comes from the WARDEX Data Exchange and does not include any sales activity from outside that resource. All research is done only on single family homes and there is no inclusion of modular homes, commercial properties, or vacant land. The geographical area researched includes; all areas within the boundaries of the city of Kingman, north Kingman, the Hualapai Mountain area, and the Valle Vista subdivisions. Click here to see maps of the included area's.

Listings and sales in units chart:

Unit sales fell as compared to the previous month, but still... third best month in these terms this year.

Average listings and sales averages chart:

Ho-hum.

2006 through 2009 unit sales chart:

Shaping up to be fine year unit wise.

Sales in October of 2009 were up 18% compared to the previous year.

2006 through 2009 average price chart:

Almost gives the impression of a floor... the green line that represents the average price in each month in 2009 that is.

The average price slipped 21% as compared to the October of 2008 average sales price.

2006 through 2009 median price chart:


The median price fell 22% compared to October of last year.

Final sales prices in October 2009 ranged from $24,000 to $298,000.


Average SFR statistics:

Data tables for all sales tracked in October 2009

Price Data

Item	Oct. '09
Average Price per Unit Sold	$112,600
Median Price per Unit Sold	$95,000
Average Price per Square Foot	$74

House Data

Item	Oct. '09
Ave Living Space per Square Foot	1,521
Bedrooms	2.99
Bathrooms	2.01
Garage	2.09
Year Built	1994

Marketing Data

Item	Oct. '09
Days on Market to Contract	71
Days on Market to Close	108
Price Reductions on Market	$19,509
Negotiated Price Concessions	$5,674
Total Price Concessions	$15,183
Total Percent Conceded	11.88%

Bonus Charts:

Traditional Seller vs. Bank Owned sales comparison for October 2009

Price Data

Item	Traditional Seller	Bank Owned
Total Units Sold in Month	27	40
Average Price per Unit Sold	$126,484	$103,228
Median Price per Unit Sold	$117,950	$77,900
Average Price per Square Foot	$86	$67

House Data

Item	Traditional Seller	Bank Owned
Ave Living Space per Square Foot	1,478	1,549
Bedrooms	3.00	2.98
Bathrooms	2.00	2.03
Garage	2.19	2.03
Year Built	2000	1990

Marketing Data

Item	Traditional Seller	Bank Owned
Days on Market to Contract	115	41
Days on Market to Close	152	79
Price Reductions on Market	$12,419	$7,544
Negotiated Price Concessions	$8,092	$4,043
Total Price Concessions	$20,511	$11,587
Total Percent Conceded	14%	10%

Wrap Up:

Not much to wrap up as the data says all that really needs to be said. I did notice a slight increase in the average price per square foot of the bank owned foreclosure sales, I'll keep tabs on that. But for the most part, if you are in need of a home and are ready, willing, and able to buy one, you have the ability to purchase at beneath 2004 prices. Does that mean it is a great time to buy?? Only you can answer that one.

Happy hunting.

With headlines like these...

It's funny when the KDMiner editor gets all uppity about what is best for the community and then turns around and offers up the following headline...

Angry bikers to converge on Kingman

Just a crappy headline in so many ways.

However, the article itself is certainly worth a read. I even see some concerns for private property rights issues in this deal. From the article...

Deborah Barry, owner of Mad Dog's, said she instituted a "no colors" policy more than a month ago because of the surveillance being conducted by police in her parking lot. Because the bikers were being watched and photographed, they were less likely to drink, which led to a drop in revenue, and ultimately, the ban on colors, she said.

Barry said she was never threatened to have her liquor license revoked if she didn't ban colors.

Look, I don't know enough about motorcycle clubs... I don't drink at bars with any sort of frequency... or even know a dern thing about motorcycles for that matter -- but I'm siding with the motorcycle club chairman from the article and proprietors of private establishments if indeed it is true that some level of government is hanging the threat of a state liquor license against a property owner if they don't institute some policy that isn't even a law passed by the people.

It is becoming clear that it is time to remember our rights... and more importantly to protect them.

But some good news in defiance to the headline...

Ray said up to 2,000 riders could roll into Kingman by Saturday. He said he was aware of a couple of groups of more than 400 riders coming from Phoenix.

Ray said the riders have been invited to take part in the Veteran's Day parade in North Kingman Saturday morning. The parade will begin at 11 a.m. at the corner of North Bond Street and Northern Avenue.

Too bad for the city of Kingman though I guess that the newly voted on increase in hotel room rates won't be in effect for the visit. Maybe the 'angry bikers' won't be so angry when they find out they'll save a buck or two.

Feathers ruffled...

Just watch the latest city council meeting starting at about minute 11 and again around the 19 minute mark..

As someone that only knows the RAID member (being talked about in the video that was a possible appointee to the city Planning and Zoning commission) based on what I have observed the gentleman say at local public meetings, I honestly do not know the man or have ever had any kind of conversation with him before... for all I know he is the sweetest man to ever walk the face of the earth... but at public meetings (either city of Kingman or Mohave County variety) he rarely makes a damn bit of sense.

I missed what went on at the prior City Council meeting when Sandi Reynolds was selected by the council to fill the seat vacated on the city Planning and Zoning commission, but between the choices that were moved to be considered... Councilman Lyons and the rest made the right decision in my opinion.

I enjoyed watching the majority of RAID members speak at the most recent call to the public. I've met a couple of the individual members of RAID and each time found each individual member to be genuine and courteous... but together as a group, I (and a whole lot of others around the city) disagree with the stance that RAID has taken on some important issues. Truth be told Mr. Lyons gave that group a taste of their own medicine.

Seriously, they do the same stuff, you've heard members of this group go negative talking about developers, builders, etc. What councilman Lyons said is no different, and he certainly has his Constitutional right to disagree with a community group such as RAID.

Buck up kids.

Hopefully by now Councilman Lyons and the vast RAID organization has had themselves a cup of java or two by now and this episode blows over.

September Sales Report (2009)

Like a Jimmy Rollins gap shot down one run with two aboard and two outs in the bottom of the ninth inning versus... say the Dodgers in game four of the NLCS, the sales activity for the previous month was incredible.

Yes folks, this means I'm watching a bit of baseball these days (the HD tv in my living room has me mesmerized and coupled with the busy days has left me little time to blog). While I'm having fun getting ready for the next opponent for my beloved Phillies I thought I'd pass along the following market report.

I think some of the data will surprise you. The last time my reports showed this much activity in a month I was writing blog posts like this one.

So enjoy this one and I hope to catch up with some other posts about the local happenings over the weekend. Cheers folks...

Disclaimer... all data compiled for this report comes from the WARDEX Data Exchange and does not include any sales activity from outside that resource. All research is done only on single family homes and there is no inclusion of modular homes, commercial properties, or vacant land. The geographical area researched includes; all areas within the boundaries of the city of Kingman, north Kingman, the Hualapai Mountain area, and the Valle Vista subdivisions. Click here to see maps of the included area's.

Listings and sales in units chart:

Oh my... the last time 82 units were sold in a month it was May of 2006... seems like oh so very long ago.

Average listings and sales averages chart:

The song remains the same for prices, no need to delve further.

2006 through 2009 unit sales chart:

Also noteworthy... sales in units in 2009 have already eclipsed the total number of all sales in 2008... with one quarter to go.

Sales in September of 2009 were up 90% compared to the previous year.

2006 through 2009 average price chart:

Prices are meandering a bit, a nice bump for traditional sellers last month though. My hats off to you.

The average price slipped 17% as compared to the September of 2008 average sales price.

2006 through 2009 median price chart:



The median price fell 22% compared to September of last year.

Final sales prices in September 2009 ranged from $18,000 to $292,000.

Average SFR statistics:

Data tables for all sales tracked in September 2009

Price Data

Item	Sep. '09
Average Price per Unit Sold	$121,642
Median Price per Unit Sold	$101,000
Average Price per Square Foot	$76

House Data

Item	Sep. '09
Ave Living Space per Square Foot	1,600
Bedrooms	3.13
Bathrooms	2.11
Garage	1.9
Year Built	1996

Marketing Data

Item	Sep. '09
Days on Market to Contract	84
Days on Market to Close	129
Price Reductions on Market	$10,805
Negotiated Price Concessions	$5,871
Total Price Concessions	$16,676
Total Percent Conceded	12.06%

Bonus Charts:

Traditional Seller vs. Bank Owned sales comparison for September 2009

Price Data

Item	Traditional Seller	Bank Owned
Total Units Sold in Month	34	48
Average Price per Unit Sold	$157,336	$96,358
Median Price per Unit Sold	$125,000	$88,500
Average Price per Square Foot	$93	$63

House Data

Item	Traditional Seller	Bank Owned
Ave Living Space per Square Foot	1,698	1,531
Bedrooms	3.2	3.0
Bathrooms	2.15	2.1
Garage	2.2	1.7
Year Built	1995	1996

Marketing Data

Item	Traditional Seller	Bank Owned
Days on Market to Contract	127	53
Days on Market to Close	174	96
Price Reductions on Market	$13,676	$8,771
Negotiated Price Concessions	$10,879	$2,325
Total Price Concessions	$24,555	$11,096
Total Percent Conceded	13.5%	10.3%

Wrap Up:

As stated earlier... a good month for sellers (and isn't about time!!). Of course keep in mind the splits between traditional sellers and foreclosures... banks still are dominating the sales market at this time.

I was hoping to see an month like September finally after the last few very good months of activity shown in the listing and pending reports.

Not one for making bold predictions or anything so I'll just do like I do as I'm watching my beloved Phillies move on in the playoffs... I just feel at peace and have confidence that things will work themselves out. Plus it doesn't hurt when your team is defending World Champions and look better than they did the previous year. To me Kingman will always be the defending World Champion. Better days ahead.