February 24, 2009

2008 TRAFFIC ACCIDENT REPORT
The City of Midland's Traffic Engineering Division has completed the 2008 accident report.  A presentation of the annual report was made to the City Council on Tuesday, February 24, 2009.

The total number of accidents in the City decreased 3.51% from 3,452 in 2007 to 3,331 in 2008.

The number of injuries increased from 1,188 in 2007 to 1,214 in 2008. 

The number of fatalities increased from 12 in 2007 to 13 in 2008.

The number of alcohol/and or drug related accidents increased from 142 in 2007 to 148 in 2008.

There were 22 intersections that had seven or more accidents.

There were no intersections with an M.E.V. (million entering vehicle) rating of 2.0 or above in 2008.  This statistic takes into consideration the number of vehicles that travel through the intersection vs. the number of accidents. 

The following is a list of the five highest accident intersections (according to M.E.V. rating) in the City of Midland during 2008:

1) Illinois Ave. & Big Spring St.                       1.93 M.E.V.

2) A Street & Loop 250 N. Srv. Rd.                1.80 M.E.V.

3) Midkiff Rd. & Wall St.                                 1.35 M.E.V.

4) A Street & Louisiana Ave.                          1.20 M.E.V.

5) Big Spring St. & Scharbauer Dr.                1.09 M.E.V.

The intersections with the highest number of accidents was Illinois Ave. & Big Spring St. with a total of 17 accidents and an M.E.V. rating of 1.93 and Midkiff Rd. & Wall St. with a total of 17 accidents and an M.E.V. rating of 1.35.

The average M.E.V. rating of the intersections listed in the 2008 report is 0.90 compared to 0.92 in 2007 indicating a very low ratio of accidents to traffic volume throughout the City.

2008 CRIME STATISTICS
The Midland Police Department has compiled crime statistics for the year of 2008.  The following numbers refer to Part I Crimes, crimes that are most likely to be reported and are also serious in nature and/or volume.

Crime                                                  2007                2008                             Percent

Murder & Manslaughter                       7                      6                                     -14%          

by Negligence

Sexual Assault                                      57                    64                               +10.3%

Robbery                                              76                     94                                +23.7%

Aggravated Assault                             206                   255                              +12.3%

Burglary                                              835                   836                               +0.1%

Theft                                                    2630               2492                               -5.2 %

Auto Theft                                           208                   158                              -24%

Total Part I                                         4019                3905                                 -3%

FISCALLY SOUND
The City of Midland is wrapping up the 2007-08 budget year with good news.  On Tuesday, February 24, 2009, the City Council will consider an amendment to the budget that will clean up overruns and underruns in various divisions of the General Fund.

Expenditures for FY08 were under budget by $2.5 million.  This allows the City to increase the General Fund Balance by $2.6 million.

The City also had good news this year with an increase in Bond Ratings.   The Moody’s rating is at Aa2 (from Aa3) and S&P now stands at AA+ (from AA).  This helped the City receive a low interest rate of 3.68669 on the 2009 Certificates of Obligation. 

The City Council recently approved a list of projects aimed at upgrading the City’s infrastructure.  Projects in the 2009 Certificate of Obligation issue include:

$3.0 million Garfield/Cuthbert Extension (CO’s)

$3.0 million Lamesa Road Reconstruction (CO’s)

$1.5 million MLK Center Renovations (CO’s)

$1.5 million Municipal Court (CO’s)

$300,000 Parks & Playground Equipment

$250,000 Senior Center Renovations

$250,000 Jenna Welch Nature Study Center

In addition, the City Council approved utilizing a portion of the Unappropriated Fund Balance for the following projects:

$1.5 million Street Paving (Unappropriated Fund Balance)

$4.0 million Jal Draw (Unappropriated Fund Balance)

$900,000 CAD/AVL, Public Safety (Unappropriated Fund Balance)

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