Facts about debt
Misconceptions regarding the federal government s debt keep popping up, including in a May 9 letter to the editor. Here are some facts to keep in mind.
First, the federal debt is not going to be paid off now or ever. A realistic goal is a balanced budget, which means annual revenue equals annual spending and implies that the debt will not grow. A more ambitious goal is to gradually reduce the debt by running a surplus in which annual revenue is greater than spending, a goal that was actually met in fiscal years 1999, 2000 and 2001 before the big tax cuts of 2001 and 2003 and the huge spending that accompanied the invasion of Iraq.
About Town The Gainesville Sun
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Football
The Eastside High School football team will travel to Alachua to play Santa Fe High School in a spring football game.
Celebrating Juneteenth
The Florida Legislature during its recently concluded session approved a state holiday to commemorate Florida’s Emancipation Day on May 20.
Local celebrations will be coordinated with the state holiday and will take place from May 20 through June 19.
“The city of Gainesville has decided to celebrate and really acknowledge the emancipation and liberation of Africans in America starting with Florida’s Emancipation Day on May 20 and going through June 19, so there are a series of events,” said Yvette Carter, chief inclusion officer at Gainesville Regional Utilities.
One of the organizers of the local events, Sherry Dupree, explained the significance of Juneteenth.
Electric bills are expected to increase as the result of a downgrade in the city’s electric company s credit rating, officials said.
S&P Global Ratings, one of the three bond rating agencies, has lowered its long-term rating on GRU’s combined utility revenue debt two notches, from AA- to A.
The two-notch downgrade is the first of its kind for GRU and is the fifth bond rating downgrade since 2010. This downgrade does squeeze the utility and its ability to fund the things that it needs to fund unless the City Commission approves higher rates,” GRU general manager Ed Bielarski said Monday.