The Fruitland City Council pursuant to its charter will hold a Public Hearing on the proposed General Operating Fund budget and Water/Sewer Fund budgets for the 2010-2011 fiscal year. The Public Hearing will be held during the regularly scheduled Council meeting on Tuesday, May 11, 2010 beginning at 7:30 p.m.
The City indicates the preliminary budget for the Water/Sewer fund includes an increase of $10 per quarter for water service charges and an increase of $20 per quarter for sewer service charges. All other fees and charges in the Water/Sewer Fund are proposed to remain the same as the current year including front footage assessments, tapping charges and impact fees.
The significant expenses in operating a high quality water and wastewater treatment plant are employee expense, energy costs for electricity and gas, chemicals, the cost of complying with Maryland Department of the Environment regulations and funding reserve balances for replacement costs . While the City is planning on holding employee expenses level, other costs out of the City’s control as previously noted continue to rise.
Within the General Operating Fund budget, the City indicates an increase to both the real property tax and personal property tax rates are necessary for the upcoming budget year to offset significant lost revenue from state highway aid and state police aid as well as lower property assessment values. Preliminary indications reveal a reduction in revenue of $300,000. State highway aid is projected to drop from $257,000 to $26,000 and State police aid is projected to drop from $80,000 to $50,000. The balance is as a result of lower assessment values.
Based on the projected income loss, the City believes an 8 to 10 cent tax increase will be needed to offset the lost revenue, while holding the line on expenses. Even with a proposed tax increase, the City projects many residents will actually have lower tax bills than last year because of lower assessments. Other revenue sources in the General Operating Fund are projected to remain constant such as the sanitation fee.
City officials are deeply concerned with the proposed rate increases and their effect on residents during these challenging and difficult economic times. The Council and staff continue to investigate all possible avenues to reduce the proposed increases. The City has sent County Executive Richard Pollitt formal notification with several ideas for the County to grant a tax differential. The recent impartial study jointly funded by Wicomico County, City of Salisbury, City of Fruitland and Town of Delmar reported $0.05 tax differential for Fruitland.
While most capital projects have been stricken from the budget, the City is moving forward with its plans to construct a new municipal building to house its much needed Police Department. Though the overall cost of the project is estimated to be $2.6 million, the upcoming budget will not be significantly impacted by the project.
19 comments:
Have they lose thier minds?
You have got to be freakin kidding me. They raised water and sewer $50 a quarter last year because of something that they were failing to do for years. (putting money in reserve). That cost me over $200 per year, my water and sewer bill (and trash pickup) is now over $1200 per year. NOW, they are going to jack it up another $30 per quarter, $120 per year? WTF are they doing? How are people supposed to afford to live. That will put my yearly bill at well over $1300 per year. I dont drink or sh!t that much. Energy costs have not increased over the last year, if employee expenses will remain flat, that either means that chemicals have skyrocketed or once again, someone is asleep at the wheel. All Fruitland is becoming is the new college rental town. I actually had someone offer to buy my house simply because it was in fruitland and they could throw 3 kids at $500 each per room. I'm starting to wonder if I should take it. This place has gone downhill over the last 10 years. Break-ins and trash. What happened to growth pays for growth. There have been a bunch of new developments in Fruitland. I also heard something funny about EDU's for the Rowens Mill development that were (I think) given to them, that they weren't supposed to get. This is outrageous. I was told YEARS ago during a previous hike in water, that the front foot charges would be eliminated. Those friggin pipes have been paid for for 30 years. Someone better get a grip on it.
I can't wait to sell my house and get the hell out of Fruitland.
Why couldn't they have scheduled the public hearing for a different night than the public hearing for the county budget hearing. Coincidence? I think not. Just good planning on their part so they won't have to hear any opposition.
Maybe this is part of the reason they got rid of their town manager, because he balked at all this???
Fruitland was alot nicer when I used to buy penny candy at Connellys hardware. Bet Mall-Mart gets special pricing.
1:19, they got rid of him because he wasn't doing $hit.
This is extremely high, given that we just had a $50 per quarter increase last year. I'm going to have to do some research online to see what the rates are for other local towns like Hebron, Salisbury, Delmar, etc.
I hope people do come to the meeting and speak up about it, not sure if it will do any good though. But I will be there.
How long before a public hearing are they required to give public notice. This seems to be short notice for such an important public hearing.
Who wrote this press release? The city attorney?
You can bet on it-- at $150/hr. It probably took him 2 days.
All those expenses that are 'beyond the control' of the city.. like a bunch of brand new trucks, so just about every public utilities employee can have his own take-home vehicle.
And a bunch of specialized equipment that could have been rented instead of purchased.
Just keep on spending and spending and spending, and when you run out of money, just take some more.
GO TO THE MEETING, PEOPLE! DEMAND ANSWERS!
If you read the minutes, you'll see that the city manager wasn't doing squat, 1:19-- that's why he was fired-- but it took them 3 years to do it!
So who's been running the city?
The city attorney. Read the minutes. It's all there.
That's where a lot of the money is going.
I wonder what they've spent on legal fees this fiscal year?
I'd bet it's at least $125,000 so far, and the year isn't even over yet.
Add the salary/benefits for a city manager that didn't do squat, and the salaries of the people who had to do everything for him-- that's where a lot of the money is going.
The city council, and especially the president of the council has allowed this to go on for years. If you want something done to save the town, you'd better show up for the meetings, and you'd better run for city council in the October 2010 election.
12:10 is right-- it will be just another college rental town. It's almost too late now to turn it around, but if enough people wake up and do something instead of whining when the bill comes, there may be hope.
"Council and staff continue to investigate all possible avenues to reduce the proposed increases.."
Note to council and staff: Just about everybody else is doing furloughs and layoffs.
There is plenty of dead wood in Fruitland. IF you were seriously 'investigating', that's where you should start. Do some serious (and overdue) housecleaning, and reduce your payroll. That's one of your biggest expenses.
That is, IF you're serious.
Never consideration to reduce pay or furloughs here! How many employees would be willing to take a pay cut to keep from losing their jobs! We have a council here that looks after the employees more than they do the taxpayers. Time to get rid of them all!
I went to every meeting they talked about water and taxes last year.. even got petitions signed.. it all fell on deaf ears. They do not care. It's easier to tax tax tax then to try to come up with solutions. FRUSTRATING!!!!!!!!!
I tried to get neighbors to come to the meetings but everyone seemed to be "too busy" or didn't care... well.. this is exactly what happens when WE THE PEOPLE sit back and let government make decisions for us.
The new building can WAIT!!
It would be wonderful to have, but how long can the city just keep cold-patching the streets?
There hasn't been any paving other than Hayward Ave for years.
The streets are crumbling. Will you just put it off till they have to be completely rebuilt?
Mike Phillips is doing a great job, and he will get it done, new building or not.
Why doesn't the city reallocate the space that's already there? Or rent some auxiliary buildings to get through the crunch like the schools did?
Or are you going to just keep on doing what you've always done, and just take more money from the taxpayers instead of making the kinds of changes that would be warranted by good management practices?
We need some council members that know something about business and will apply it, instead of just sitting around acting like Very Important People.
It's crunch time. Show us your stuff.
7:13, The budget woes in government right now are beyond furloughs and a few layoffs. Besides, there has to be people to do the work. Why is everyone so quick to want to put the axe down on people?
Because, 9:27, payroll is a BIG expense, and it is not the function of government to create jobs (nor to keep them if reductions need to be made).
You need good staff to do the things the government is SUPPOSED to do, but Fruitland, like other towns has more than is needed.
The solution is NOT 'beyond' furloughs and layoffs-- it INCLUDES them, just like any business would have to.
12:07- I don't think this is the best place to do that. Good management should be able to sort that out-- a hint might be "look at productivity" and "look at duplication".
You could probably get a good start with the employees that ride around in city vehicles all day doing nothing.
Enough said.
2:19 you must be someone who works for the city to say that. The two council members who were voted back in during the last election don't do a damn thing. they both show up at council meetings because they have to but otherwise don't do a thing. John did more than either one of those two fools. Can't wait to see which city person is running around town telling confidential things. I'd put my money on Lokey, Gloria and Carey
Every single citizen in Fruitland can show up to try to fight this but it won't help. At last year's meeting many taxpayers expressed how they felt on this and how it would of made better sense to of raised it a little each year. They said that they had to do it and that it would happen again in 2010. They knew at that meeting that they would be doing this. They are only holding this meeting because they HAVE to legally. No matter how many of us show up they already have it set to do. R. Tull is going around town saying his house is up for sale that he's moving. It isn't right that he'll vote on an increase that won't hurt his wallet. R. Carey stated how last year's increase will hurt him. Seems if this is true he'd be voting against this. T. Lokey and G. Olinde are up for election in October. Has anyone heard if they plan to run or not? People, seek people in Fruitland to run for the three seats. Seek out people who know what they are doing. This is a business we trust them to run not a hobby for them to show up and do nothing minus the agenda for themselves and pals. Start paying attention to the council to see who really does what and who fills a chair at council meetings. I'm sure this town could be run with only three council members instead of five.
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