The Budget - The Mayor, as Chief Financial Officer, put forth a budget a few months ago and has met with the Council on several occasions for review, comment and in some cases changes. The final budget originally presented to the Council for a vote on Monday, May 2 included increased operating expenses, including a 30% increase in police costs and raises for all employees.
The Mayor has proposed balancing the budget with transfers from reserves. The Mayor likes to tout that we have “$9.3 million in reserves”, “industry standards recommend only 5-10% of your operating budget in an operational savings account”, “our reserves are excessive”, etc.. These statements, however, show a lack of understanding regarding the reserves. This lack of understanding was further illustrated in our budget workshops when he showed his failure to understand that the majority of the reserves are “dedicated” funds that were collected from developers as impact fees before the issuance of a building permit or water connection. These impact fees were established years ago to ensure that development paid its proportionate share of capital improvements and to ensure adequate facilities are available in a timely and well planned manner. By way of example, some of those dedicated accounts include well exploration and development, water system expansion, treatment plant expansion, park reserves, and a fire safety fund to be paid to the Mt. Airy Fire Volunteer Fire Company.
Pursuant to the law, the money collected from impact fees must only be spent on the items for which it was collected. While it is true we may have “$9.3 million” in reserves, it is imperative that this money only be spent wisely and as outlined by our code. In addition, we believe it is our fiduciary obligation to have a plan for the long term viability of the town and its infrastructure. We need a responsible, viable plan to sustain the budget without “deficit borrowing” to balance the budget. As stated by a former councilman, “There is either a revenue problem or a spending problem.” The Mayor has failed to address the problem. The budget was presented for a vote with no long term plan and no explanation regarding the source of the transfers from reserves.
Funding request from local group of citizens –Recently, the Mayor informed the Council that he was going to give money to a local organization working to build from the 2007 Town Survey. While we commend the efforts of all of our local organizations, we do not believe it is government’s role to donate taxpayers’ money to service clubs and civic groups. We do, however, feel that if the Mayor is interested in building from the 2007 survey, we should collectively, as a Council, come together and appropriate funds for a new survey. We can use our existing Commission chairpersons, economic development and community groups for input into the questions contained in the survey and keep costs to a minimum. We offer our services to work with such a group, appointed by Council, to develop questions, distribute to town residents and evaluate responses for an updated survey.
Whether the expenditure is $750 or $7,000 we believe the Mayor and Council must be vigilant with your tax dollars. We are committed to doing that and offer our positions on these issues tonight as proof.
Councilman David Blais
Councilwoman Wendi W. Peters
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