During this week’s public hearing on Rick Pollitt’s proposed budget cuts it became apparent that the “cap” now is having effects that are never mentioned in the mainstream media. Consider the following.
You have probably heard Mr. Pollitt criticize the tax cap numerous times –claiming that it has cost the County lots of money (less tax revenue, that is). But, it also is saving the taxpayers from loss of money due to higher taxes. That aspect has become very significant now that there is insufficient revenue to cover all the spending that he put in his proposed budget and the County Council approved earlier this year.
But for the tax cap, the County’s property tax rate could have been increased to generate funds to cover that deficit. That would require a significant tax increase – can someone tell us how much, please.
Because the cap on tax revenue puts the screws to the “tax & spend” style of government, Pollitt is being forced, for the first time in office, to engage in real budgeting. Compare the discussion this week to the typical dog and pony show that he has presented to support his past budgets, in which there was no meaningful discussion of the need for specific expenditures.
During the hearing someone actually questioned the need for a County position (public information officer). Past budget hearings were dominated by two groups: the tax & spenders and those opposed to that style and the big government that it causes, with almost no focus on details.
A potential effect may become apparent during the next election campaign, when Mr. Pollitt may be forced – because of his statements against the tax cap and to hold the liberal tax & spend political base – to support outright repeal of the cap. Thus, there could be a broad opening for an opponent who supports it either unchanged or with some modification. There surely will be substantial debate about what level of taxation and spending is appropriate for Wicomico County and also specific expenditures, such as the public information officer if that position still exists then.
And if we should be fortunate enough to adopt real “zero-base” budgeting, blame it on the tax cap, folks.
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35 comments:
I am sure most people in wicomico county could find plenty of cuts to make in the county budget. Since most of us already live within our means. Pollitt is just another liberal tax and spend democrat.
Give me the budget I'll balance it! but of course many of those same liberal democrats will howl when they see their favorite programs and their positions cut!
God bless the cap.
On the Bill Reddish show this morning Pollitt said that he once considered eliminating the public information officer slot but decided not to. He should now reconsider and decide differently ASAP!
Pollit and other very smart people truly are better at spending our money than are we.
If it were up to us, we would skimp and save every dime we could during these hard times.
Luckily, there are the elites. They will take care of us. They know what we need.
It's not patriotic to question authority.
If I had to cut my budget in these rocky times (and I have), then so should my governing body. Don't come to my door asking for enough money for you to live fat while I'm living lean.
As I have said before and now repeat is the Tax Cap was created because of people like Pollitt. Fruitland property owners are well aware of how he can go through money and most , if not all of them are glad he went to Greener Pastures. He went through his budget process but has yet to cut some jobs of his buddies and never will as long as he is in office. Pollitt started right out of the shoot spending money on things that have done fine in this county for years which now cost us the tax payers more than ever. The logic of wanting to give him more tax money when he has made no attempt to truly balance the budget is insane because then he will make no attempt to make the cuts needed to do so. So what if some services have to be cut, If the people want those services bad enough they will find a way to fund them. As a tax payer in this county I find it hard to take when I ride around and see county workers taking advantage of the tax payer and not actually doing the job they were hired to do, make some dead weed cuts in jobs and save a bundle of money there.
10:56-
You forgot to say:
God Save The Queen!
The debate over the revenue cap will never be resolved until the administration builds and presents a zero based ground up budget.One that details every position and every program by department.
Until taxpayers see,in clear terms,how thier money is spent,it is unrealistic to think that they will agree to a cap modification.
Further,government owes the taxpayers this kind of open books approach.Months have been wasted already....it's time for the administration to present a clear and detailed budget.
11:52 so you want to "govern" by a committee of 90,000? "open books account huh?" Just how would you go about doing that? I am not disagreeing with the end result of what you seek but there is no realistic way to do until the form of government is changed and not the budget process.
"blame it on the tax cap, folks."
GARBAGE!
Blame it on out of control spending of MY MONEY.
These politicians don't get it. I hope they will get it at the next election.
11:52 THANK YOU!
Didn't the County PIO used to be named George Roache. Whatever has happened to him?
To 12:18 -- ultimately it's up to our elected representatives to pass a budget. However, they should give us more information on exactly what our money is being spent on. Trying to find out anything from the county website about this is pretty futile. They should have detailed budgets of every county department, detailed budgets of the past ten or fifteen years' budgets, and information on how many people work for the departments. That would give us some idea of what our tax money goes for. Right now we only have a vague idea of how they spend our money.
12:18...How does changing the form of government affect presenting a clear budget? An Executive form actually makes it less complicated.
And,the voters DO govern... through people who are supposed to represent them.
You make building a zero based budget sound almost impossible....it's not...if you WANT to....this administration doesn't.
It was amazing to see Pollitt in action on Tuesday night. Simply by his inaction and transferring the political focus on the County Council and his surogate was brilliant.
He kept the County Administrator he was elected to replace, along with his staff, hired new staff of his own, supervised increased spending and overlooked corruption within the County. His failure to implement internal controls and practices to prevent and preclude such behavior is indicative of his dereliction of his responsiblities to the position he was elected and to the citizens of Wicomico County.
To this date, he still blames the Revenue Cap (wow, government faced with revenue constraints, what a novel idea) for all the County's woes and does not demonstrate an approach to government similar to that which, surely he excercises within his own family.
Surely, his personal financial approach limits spending and debt. That is all we are asking for as citizens from him and our County Council. Use the same principles and constraints that hopefully they apply in their own businesses and personal life.
Mr. Pollitt is providing a large opening for someone to step forward and challenge him in upcoming election. Why such a large gentleman want to walk on such thin ice, is mystery.
I don't know if any of you readers realize - but Pollitt has already written his own page in the history books. He is a marked man.
For those out there who may be contemplating running for the County Executive postion it shouldn't take much to unseat him.
History now reveals that he has failed to work within fiscal constraints. He should have sat down with the Board of Education and worked out budget cuts across the board. Instead, he has insulated this sector of local government.
I wouldn't be surprised if you examined his campaign finance reports that his hip pockets is attached to the BOE.
Why, if Pollitt has a press secretary (Fineran), doesn't his proposed budget cuts (and a lot of other stuff) never get posted on the County website?
And now, a message from our leader (from the Wicomico County website):
The Obligations of Citizenship
“The time has come for our community to consider the quality of public services we expect and demand from our county and then
make the necessary commitment to pay for them.”
Richard M. Pollitt, Jr
County Executive
*************
In other words -- I want you serfs to kill the tax cap, suckers.
Here's the skinny on Pollitt's proposed budget cuts:
NEW Operating and Capital Budget
Reduction Percentages by Department
Department %Cut
Circuit Court 3.4%
Orphans Court 15.0%
Community Promotion 15.0%
Contingency 60.0%
Corrections 22.2%
Elections 10.1%
Emergency Services 2.3%
Executive Office 15.0%
Extension Service 15.0%
Finance 15.0%
General Services 14.7%
Gypsy Moth Control 15.0%
Human Resources 15.0%
Humane Society 15.0%
Information Technology 12.1%
Legal 15.0%
Liquor License Board 7.4%
Local Management Board 15.0% Mosquito Control 15.0%
Orphans Court 15.0%
PAC-14 15.0%
Pensions 79.5%
Planning & Zoning 15.4%
Public Health 1.4%
Public Library 17.1%
Public Works 14.5%
Purchasing 15.0%
Recreation 41.3%
Salisbury/Wicomico Econ.Dev. 15.0%
School Building Commission 50.0%
Sheriff 10.6%
States Attorney 15.0%
Tri-County Council/Shore Transit 14.3%
Weed Control 15.0%
Workers Comp 8.3%
Wor-Wic Community College 15.0%
Youth & Civic Center 49.1%
1:04~Maybe Rick needs to invest more money in that contemplation room that he had planned for in the old jail. After some meditation there, he may be able to come up with a plan.
Whats Orphins court? Its listed twice.
Rick:
As you pal Mikey Dunn once said: The schools are the County's problem." Do you get it, now?
Pensions 79.5%, wow...
1:57...thanks....but..percentages are meaningless when you do not know what the baseline is. You may be cutting X % of something that actually needs more funding...while nibbling at something that warrants deeps cuts.
This approach implies that existing departmental spending trends are warranted ...that has not been demonstrated.
Taking 60% of the contingency is very dangerous. The problem would not be so bad if this was a one time cut but this is just the beginning. Any business owner knows the importance of a safety net for the unexpected. This is not unexpected, but a new road of making government become responsible for lean accounting just as industry always had to be. It has been building in the works for a couple of years now and the County has had plenty of time to become lean and mean to prepare for this downturn.
Denial is a strong thing. Time to pull your head out of your anus.
1:04~You a right on. There is no doubt that an experienced CEO from industry could shape up the county with the proper administrative support. But this would take stripping down the existing management and getting rid of the triangle at the top. I have seen a couple of good CEO's turn around in the red organizations within two years. Its possible but not probable with the existing mentality.
"CHANGE" is the only way. Otherwise, be prepared for the titanic remake.
Especially when you use up all of the contingency and then you have an extraordinary item happen and you have no funds to cover it. Governments ARE going bankrupt. Some driven by lawsuits, but usually poor fiscal management.
1:57~Very Interesting. It would be interesting to compare this to the current headcount of the listed departments.
12:58 (both) - the point I was trying to make was you are NOT going to get a detailed budget from THIS county executive. Before the charter amendment passed the County Council and Administrator developed the budget in public workshops and council meetings based on what EACH department submitted. How are you going to develop a mechanism in place - as you seem to be suggesting - for EVERY department to put their requests out for public input BEFORE the person in charged of coordinating that effort (in this case, the executive) even has a chance to go over it? You seem to be suggesting that the citizens will tell the executive what they want included in the budget or not. That's a noble theory but I think Wicomico County's government (Pre and Post charter amendment) has shown you it will not abide by a system like that. So how do you design and implement a budget process like that? where "all of us" decide what should or should not be in there. Hey, I admit the reality of it sucks but what in realistic terms can theaverage joe do about it?
To 11:52 you are right about open books...one department has done that...Parks, Recreation & Tourism...go to the park & rec website and each division is broken down...why can't other dept in the county do this if they can?
2:10 - "Pensions 79.5%, wow..."
Don't think for a minute this is a true cost savings. They are just going to forgo any payment to the pension trust without reducing the future benefits payable. It's pay now or pay later. Guess they have chosen "pay later." This type of (in)action is exactly what caused the car makers, airlines and many others to go under.
2:36....ok,let me try to further explain. There is simply insufficient detail being provided to the County Council. I think several council members pointed this out the day Pollitt and Shea first presented the amended budget( which has now been further amended).The Council is being asked to approved cuts on a % basis with most departments providing absolutely no details as to what those cuts will mean to the citizens of the county.It's "pie in the sky" and if I were a councilman I would not approve cuts that were not explained in far better detail. As 4:10 points out, Parks and Rec has layed out a fairly detailed plan of how they would implement the cuts.Why would that not be demanded from every department? How else can the council make rational decisions as to the appropriatness of the budget they are being asked to approve.
It's not a "noble" concept. It is what prudent fiscal management requires. And I will reiterate...it's not that hard...unless you:
a. don't really know how the cuts will be made.
b. Do know and don't want it public
c. are simply further positioning for a cap modification argument by forcing draconian cuts on services to our youth, elderly and disadvantaged.
And the answer is "D" all of the above.
Since Pollitt won't cut where cuts need to happen, then why doesn't the county council cut? Just asking.
And Pollitt deserves an "E"
as an assigned performance grade.
He had ample time to prepare. I noticed that during last years budget hearing he said that he thought we - (nation and County) - were going to be out of this mess in a year to year and half.
Well the stimulus plan hasn't worked. Unemployment has now exceeded 10%.
What next . . .Stimulus II. Maybe then unemployment will reach 13 or 14%
Bottom line - there is no predicability in any of our governments - (Federal, State, and Local).
Report Card- "F" for planning, direction, and innovative thinking.
Just another sign of what Denial can do. Any person with a bit of financial understanding can look at the agressive spending cycle this country has been on and predict a detrimental outcome. If its too good to be true, its too good to be true. Someone evidentually has to pay the piper.
This is what happens when you are guided by swine in sheeps clothing.
Wake-up Pollitt and smell reality. Take off your blinders. You can't use a temporary fix.
http://www.wicomicocounty.org/finance/FY%202010%20Adopted%20Budget.pdf
That's the county budget link...this is the baseline that you all think is hidden, it's not. PUt that with your percentages to see where the real fat is.
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