While it won’t be official until next week, it appears that Republicans have managed to win 6 seats on the Wicomico County Council. With such a large, veto proof majority there is little excuse for this council to not accomplish quite a bit over the next four years. Here are some things for our next council to start thinking about:A REAL HOMESTEAD TAX CREDIT
While we won’t know for certain until next week whether “Landslide Bob” Caldwell has won the District 4 seat, the keystone of Caldwell’s campaign should be acted on regardless. Wicomico homeowners deserve a REAL homestead tax credit. Unlike the current scheme, where the assessed value of a home must rise 10% in one year for a homeowner to receive any relief, Caldwell’s proposed 0-base tax credit will prevent homeowners from being priced out of their own homes due to rising assessments.
Yes, I can hear the screams of Rick Pollitt and others already. The claims of stripping the county treasury dry are almost deafening. They are also fallacious. Caldwell’s argument is simple – the county isn’t “giving up” any money; they simply won’t be getting as much from homeowners as Pollitt and his allies would like. We can also expect to hear claims that this proposal is somehow “anti-business”. Again, with the revenue cap in place, I seriously doubt that businesses will be complaining that their property tax rates only go down a bit less that they otherwise would have. Since commercial properties and non-owner occupied homes aren’t eligible for a homestead tax credit anyway, such arguments are merely a backdoor means of putting the county’s mitts deeper into homeowner’s pockets.
This item should be attacked early in 2011 (January or February). If passed, it couldn’t take affect until FY 2013. This allows Pollitt and his staff more than ample time to plan ahead.
THE WICOMICO DEPARTMENT OF LIQUOR CONTROL
It’s not a very big secret. I believe that the county dispensary system is corrupt, steals from the taxpayers, and is no better than Barack Obama taking over GM and Chrysler. The government should not be in the wholesale or retail liquor business.
That said, I also recognize that the Wicomico County Liquor Control Board has bamboozled a large portion of the citizenry into thinking that having the county in the liquor business is somehow good for them. Fair enough. If the county is going to stay in the liquor business, then it (meaning us, the taxpayers) should realize ALL of the profits. This can be easily accomplished by establishing a Department of Liquor Control.
Currently, Wicomico, Worcester, and Somerset counties still have liquor control boards. These boards are appointed by the governor and claim that they have ZERO responsibility to our counties’ elected governments. In the past several years we have seen the Wicomico LCB waste thousands and thousands of dollars on employee junkets and gifts to various groups on the Lower Shore.
Montgomery County has a Department of Liquor Control (MCDLC). They operate retail stores. The Board of License Commissioners are still appointed by the governor, but their budget and staff fall under the the MCDLC.
Why would we want a Department of Liquor Control (DLC) instead of the current system? It’s simple. I may criticize Rick Pollitt on occasion, but I believe him to be an honest man. In addition, Pollitt has to run for re-election every four years. Under a DLC, I’m not too worried about employees going on junkets. We also wouldn’t have to worry about county money going to fund a group so that Pollitt can be their “Man of the Year”.
However, to accomplish this requires approval of the legislature. The council needs to act fast to request this. Again, because of the veto proof majority, the executive can’t veto a resolution requesting this action by our delegation. If Rudy Cane wants to block this action so his pal Cecilia Dennis can keep doling out the goodies, we can always go Jim Mathias and Rich Colburn as well as the other members of the county’s House delegation.
MORE CONTROL OVER THE BUDGET
Personally, I have no axe to grind with County Public Information Officer Jim Fineran. I have no desire to see the man loose his job. However, I have a far greater concern that Pollitt and County Attorney Ed Baker argue that the legislative arm of our county’s government cannot exercise adequate control over the county budget.
The charter is pretty clear. The Executive submits a budget. The council may cut, but it cannot add more money EXCEPT for education. Yet, Baker now claims that the council cannot excise line items from the budget. Without more than Mr. Baker’s opinion, the council should refuse to accept any budget that is not a line item budget (note that Pollitt has always delivered a line item budget to council) AND should feel free to cut any amount from a line item OR cut an entire line item.
IF the council cuts a line item from the budget, Pollitt lacks the authority to spend funds on that item. This is how it should be. Without adequate budget authority, there is no real need for a county council. We elected Pollitt to County Executive, not County Despot.
RESTRUCTURING THE COUNTY GOVERNMENT
One of the complaints most often heard about Pollitt’s stewardship of the county government is his refusal to restructure it in the face of the revenue cap. It has become apparent that Pollitt is simply keeping the current structure in the hope that we’ll all “come to our senses” and vote the revenue cap out. Perhaps Rick believes in Santa and the Easter Bunny as well!
Restructuring the county government is needed … and needed ASAP! However, this is a long term process that will require some long term planning. Waiting until an election year and then putting forth myriad initiatives and proposals is simply unacceptable. If the Executive’s office won’t do it, the council needs to.
How? Through the budget process. Departments can be downsized. If Pollitt refuses to sit down with the council and negotiate how to re-structure them, the worse thing that will happen is that the county will run on a surplus. Pollitt still can’t spend those surplus funds without county council approval.
Pollitt is always bragging about the county’s bond rating. More surpluses sure won’t hurt it.
KICKING THE “LAND GRAB” TO THE CURB
We can expect Pollitt to push forward with another attempt to down-zone county ag lands. We can expect that there will be some kind of “compensation” scheme that will steal farmers’ property rights today with the “promise” to compensate them down the road.
It’s called “BETTING ON THE COME”.
A majority of the new council has pledged not to support any down-zoning without compensation. That means REAL compensation, not some pie-in-the-sky promise.
The way to handle this is simple. Any proposal for down-zoning that does not include REAL compensation should never be allowed to see the light of day. IF the council president chooses to put it on the ballot, a majority can simply move, second, and vote to remove that item from the agenda.
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These are just a few suggestions. For full disclosure, these are not my ideas; I just happen to agree with them. Each and every one of these proposals has come from a current or elected council member. It is just my sincere hope that these folks will push for these very good ideas.It is also my hope that there will be plenty more to come.
When did Pollitt first learn that Perdue was moving part of its headquarters to Sussex County -- was it covered up until after the election and at the big bash that Perdue just held?
ReplyDeleteGA:
ReplyDeleteUnfortunately it's still the "7 dwarfs" against a strong county exec. just like the Salisbury's "strong mayor" form of government.
They both need to switch to the appointed manager form -- like they have in Worcester County and Sussex County where it has worked very well.
As an appointed official, Pollitt would be much less powerful -- and dangerous.
G.A. this county has been in the toilet for years. Way before Rick and the current council. Look no further than Ted Shea, Matt Craemer, Carl Peterson. Why was the forensic auditor removed from her office by members of Sheriff's Office ??
ReplyDeleteThere is no doubt in my mind there is so much money missing that it would cause a major investigation. I am not saying present officials. The three mentioned above need to be looked at hard. The land fill was a drop in the bucket.
With the shape this county is in why is Craemer and Shea still on the pay roll. They where at the helm when all this took place. What else have they hidden from the public and where they the benifactors in any way.
Again what did the auditor hired by the county find?? Where is she now.
When does the new council start?
ReplyDeleteFortunately the Wicomico Environmental Trust is losing its booster on the current Council - McCain - and it's stealth candidate, Cowall, lost.
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ReplyDeleteWho is Carl Peterson & what's his claim to fame in Wicomico County?
Petersen ran the detention center. He and Matt were very very tight.
ReplyDeleteWe also have a new auditor now - but he's still subject to being fired by the same folks for the same (untold) reason. The charter change didn't go far enough...should have changed this appointment to dismissable 'for cause' only. That way, if the auditor is doing their job, opening up a specific can of worms won't get them fired - insubordination still could though.
ReplyDeletePeterson was in basically the County Exec. for years. He ran the show back when they would lose millions then find it later ? I agree there should be an audit going back to at least 95. It might be worth looking at.
ReplyDeleteThey actually told some county employes there was no pention plan when hired. To find out later there was one in place. Sam Vincent spoke of this to Pollitt and council prior to his death.
What has been done about it ?
I fthey were crooked enough to do this what else has transpired.
It should be call Crookimo County.
An Internal Auditor position should never been an at-will position. The fact that it is is considered a material weakness. The fact that the current position is not "Independent in fact" gives no credibility to the county.
ReplyDeleteAs far as the liquor board goes, the county does get 100% of the profits. After payroll and benefits to its employees, the county gets every dollar. Turning this industry over to the private sector would lose revenue for the county.
ReplyDelete3:13PM Sing another song, please!
ReplyDeleteOne employee that only worked at the liquor store for about 7 years got a $700 watch upon retirement.
ReplyDeleteAnother employee there got a raise of $11,000 a year so he didn't have to work two jobs.
If he hadn't used his credit card like it was cash he wouldn't have needed two jobs to begin with.
Get government out of the liquor business completely!! Just a middle man adding on another tax to the consumer and retailer.
ReplyDelete6:24pm Tell us more how our tax dollars are being spent. Who has control over their expenses?
ReplyDeleteScratch the last part and I agree, G.A. Let me re-phrase. I like the last part, but I think you need to understand the basis of law and that there is no such thing as 'down-zoning'. What you're talking about is a reinvestment in a viable agricultural sector. Ask any farmer in a county which has never 'up-zoned'. Their land is more valuable on average, despite the lower viability of development. That said, facts are facts - we have the zoning we have and compensation is a fair resolution if we're going to change the zoning. Just don't expect it to be cash and don't expect it to happen before an effective TDR program exists.
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