Last night I attended the Town of Fruitland Council Meeting with the intent of doing a single story on a special event, (featured at 9:00 AM. However, things became very interesting when it came to their Budget and Water & Sewer Rates, so I stuck around until almost 10:30 last night.
The first discussion was based on their increasing Water & Sewer rates. For the past 4 years the MDE has been asking the Town to reserve 25% as a sort of cushion and the Town simply did not do so. Because they didn't do this and because a Developer had fronted so much money in impact fees, the Council was able to sit back and not increase the user rates.
As it turns out, this was not a good move because each user is now impacted all at once, rather than a $10.00 increase per quarter, now there's a $50.00 increase per quarter. The $200.00 increase per year seems to be a major issue with many as they came forward to voice their concerns for hours last night. Mind you, this is just above $17.00 a month increase or $4.25 per week.
On the other hand, one resident Kimmie Marshall, confined to a wheel chair on disability and an income of only $600.00 a month, this is a very serious blow. Kimmie confronted the Council with what I felt was a fair debate. What are they going to do for citizens like her on such a tight and fixed income? The Council could only offer that the individual work with the Finance Department and as long as each person is making "good faith" payments they would work with them.
Unfortunately, this is a reality today Folks. Money is getting tighter and tighter and while the price of just about everything has gone up the sooner from the later has arrived. As you can see from my earlier Post this morning, gas prices are once again jumping through the roof. Chemicals have skyrocketed, therefore Water & Sewer Plants have an increased cost to operate.
One woman, (a Teacher) sat there dumbfounded last night because she just couldn't swallow the increase. Many just could not understand why and even gave off the impression as if the Council was gouging them. That simply was not the case and Rick Pollitt and myself tried explaining to everyone that this simply put is a reality today. The Council deferred any increases for four years and gave that relief. Reality has now hit and they must charge each user for their "cost" of doing business.
Rick Pollitt explained to everyone very clearly, government cannot make a profit. We simply charge what it cost us to operate. I happened to mention the fact that there has never been a delay in service. Public Works makes sure you always have water and sewer, a service no one else out there can or does provide. Cable goes down. Internet access can stop out of nowhere. Cell phones drop calls. However, when you turn on your water or flush your toilets, everything works. If people are willing to go out and pay close to $2.00 for a gallon of bottled water, I personally feel people have taken this service for granted and have become spoiled.
Unfortunately for residents in Fruitland, Water & Sewer rates are actually higher than the rates in Salisbury, if you can believe that! It's true and that's where I can feel for the residents in Fruitland. Nevertheless, we are in hard times Folks. Get this. While many complained about the Water & Sewer rate increase, the Town of Fruitland actually lowered their budget expenses for this year versus last year and did not raise taxes anywhere.
Keep this in mind as well. Property assessments will be coming soon and there's no doubt your assessment values will drop dramatically. This may compensate for the increase in Water & Sewer rates but only time will tell. It's a necessary evil, we all know that but it's also a DEPRESSION, (I don't care what anyone says) and it's time to cut corners. Americans have been enjoying luxuries for far too long and when I sat there last night and mentioned many should consider dropping cable TV, man, you would have thought I shot someone and I was on trial for murder. NO WAY! Guess what Folks, YES WAY! The fun is over. You want services, well guess what, you have to pay for them.
I live in Delmar, Delaware. My property taxes are $1,200.00 a year, I have a well and an above ground septic system. I chose to live in an area where I would not be subjected to these kind of rates and increases. You chose to live somewhere in which you are subjected to these rates and increases. What is it about NO PROFIT that you don't understand? You are receiving a service that never fails and costs you about $0.01.5 cents a gallon?
I thought what the Council did in Fruitland last night was remarkable. If you don't want to pay the kind of taxes you're now paying and water and sewer rates, Delmar, Delaware has lots of room to welcome ALL of you. In this particular case I stand behind the Municipality, (which is very rare) with the exception of those disabled on a very tight budget and income. For the $4.25 increase per week, I think the citizens can find ways to conserve without losing their homes.
18 comments:
Good post Joe. A real lesson in the costs incurred to run a municipality. I also believe we all have social responsibility being blessed to live in this great nation, state and towns. Municipalities have costs for services, fire, police, utilities, maintenance of roads and public property. Taxes can't always be cut, that banner is just a smoke screen wedge of the right. The fixed income folks need help with expense increases like this, but there is help out there. DSS would be a good place to start.
There may be more to the Fruitland story than met your eye, Joe.
Like Salisbury, the question is, were they straight with residents over those years?
You were certainly a vocal critic of Salisbury. Was it just because it was Barrie Tilghman?
Contrary to 9:26, I'm not a "righty." For that matter, neither are Debbie Campbell and Terry Cohen. I realize city services cost, but there is nothing wrong with ensuring that costs are justified.
Joe
Olinde has already promised another rate increase at least asd much next year. That was in his interview on the Bill Reddish show several weeks ago.
What about the salaries of the finance department employees? They obviously do not work only on sewer and water bills because they handle our tax payments too. And not all Fruitland residents have the luxury of having sewer and water service. Times are tough and all of us are having to find ways to cut spending for things we don't really need and so should the elected officials we put in office to represent us. If towns operate without a profit then how come you end up with surplus that you use to balance another year's budget? Savings are good for emergencies but I still think there is room for adjustments to eliminate waste.
It's time that Tax and Spend end. The people can not be bled dry.
Is the water drinkable? In our town we are charged $190 quartlerly whether we use a gallon or 17,000 gallons! The kicker, at least half the time the water contains more chlorine than is safe to swim in! (I use pool test strips and the level is at 3-4 ppm) the other half of the time the water is rust, apple juice, or pink in color. Yet, the water bills continue to increase and the quality of water continues to decrease. Small town charm for you!
And, expanding on what 9:58 said- one of the inherent problems with government entities is the lack of consequences for bad business decisions. If they run out of revenue, they just raise taxes (or shuffle things around and pay for it through higher fees). They rarely cut waste, other than obvious things.
A business can't just keep raising prices- sometimes some things that aren't absolutely necessary have to go.
I don't think that has been done effectively in this case.
Careful analysis of the budget showed that.
Conserve , conserve , conserve.
Supply and demandddddd!
10:12 Yes, next year it will increase another $50.00 per quarter.
did you notice that the town se rves bottled water at meetings???try paying 3 times that amount in property taxes Oh Well if yougit my Dig
Referendum anyone?
to 9:51 how do we do it?please educate as to what a referendum is as i am certain a few folks would like to know.
A A referendum is a direct vote in which an entire electorate is asked to either accept or reject a particular proposal. Usually you can achieve this with a petition to the council. I am not sure how many signitures would be nessesary for a referendum in Fruitland. I'll investigate.
The point is that while the increase may only equate to $4.25 per week, it's MY $4.25! So, as a citizen I have the right to question this increase. This is particularly true when considering how much we pay in city taxes and what return (or lack thereof) we get for out money. The city offers nothing to it's citizens in exchange for property taxes, except for the fellas that weed whack the gutters every so often. We pay out of pocket for water, sewer, and trash pick up. Taxes go to uselss projects like the ridiculous traffic circle and a totally unnecessary new town hall. Town officials should have redirected these funds to offset any increases in our water and sewer rates. They were not doing us a favor, as implied, by not raising rates in the last few years. All in all, we definitely do have the right to complain about this "insignificant" increase. It is nothing more than a continuing trend of exploiting Fruitland taxpayers.
anonymous 4:47, BLAH, BLAH, BLAH, BLAH! Sell your home and get the hell off the Eastern Shore. There, does that help you to understand what every Council Member would have likled to say to people like you. If you don't want to sell and move, get off your ass and run for Council instead of blabbering and complaining.
I have been told that when walmart was coming to town, a deal was made to charge them a very low rate on water/sewer if they hired fruitland citizens. We the citizens had to pick up the difference in the deal with walmart. I don't know how many citizens work there or if this is even true; but, if it is true, is the increase another way citizens have to make up the difference for a deal made with the new hotel? It seems kinda funny that a new hotel opens up and "wham" we are hit with an increase in water/sewer.
A petition was signed by many residents and given to the council that evening. It was ignored.
we would gladly sell our house, but the realtors tell us the taxes are too high...that potential buyers are scared away alot of were lied to by rhe builders, and realtors who did not inform of the dual taxation!!!check out dpol.com and look it up .i admit i messed up by doing my homework prior to purchase. my bad...hope our new tax bill will offset the sewage because both bills are full of #@#$
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