Last night the Wicomico Neighborhood Congress hosted an event which was billed as a debate on the Revenue Cap. Rather than a debate, participants Joe Ollinger and Wayne Strasburg presented information on the state of government spending in Wicomico County versus the Eastern Shore and gave their views on some possible solutions to what is clearly a revenue problem for the county.
Both advocated a tax cut in one area – income taxes. Strasburg presented data and both gave anecdotal evidence that Wicomico County is forced to provide services and infrastructure for businesses (and their employees) while many of those business owners and the higher paid employees choose to live in Worcester or Sussex counties and enjoy a much lower income tax rate. Ollinger also claimed that some individuals actually live in Wicomico County but claim residence in Worcester or Florida (which has no state income tax).
If residents are falsely claiming residency elsewhere, that is a problem for Comptroller Peter Franchot to enforce. If individuals are living elsewhere due to a lower income tax rate then that could indicate a need to cut the county county tax rate. However, will that address the need for higher county revenue?
One county residence stated after the meeting that Strasburg “lied” because he used Talbot and Worcester counties in his comparison. This is both untrue and unfair. Both Strasburg and Ollinger chose to compare Wicomico County against other Easter Shore counties. Ample data was shown that both Talbot and Worcester clearly have higher per capita income and wealth. Did including these counties in the analysis skew the results a little? Yes. However, the results would have been equally skewed if the comparison was made only against Caroline, Dorchester, and Somerset counties.
VOICE chairman John Palmer argued that using the term “Revenue Cap” queers the argument. The voters of Wicomico implement a charter change for “Property Tax Limitation”. This is true. However, it is also true that the charter change was for a cap on revenue from property taxes.
Former county councilman Bill McCain argued that both the county government and the county schools are efficient organizations and that we need to prioritize our spending. This is the same argument he put forward earlier at the WCBOE meeting at Parkside High School. McCain argues that if education is our priority then that is where our tax dollars should go. Sounds great. However, to fund the WCBOE at the levels they desire would basically require shutting down the rest of the county government. Hardly a practical solution.
Strasburg stated that we need “million dollar ideas”. He’s right. However, I cannot think of one national, state, or local government which has taxed itself to prosperity. The state of Maryland dictates how the counties are able to tax. They also continue to push additional burdens on the counties while continuing to spend like drunken sailors. Ditto for the federal government.
One thing is certain, the probability of any group gathering 10,000 signatures to repeal the revenue cap is low. The current council majority has pledged that the revenue cap can go only if citizens agree to do so in the same manner in which they voted it in (petition and a ballot). The fact is that Wicomico County is facing some tough times.
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35 comments:
This "revenue cap"...is it a limit on the amount of the tax or a limit on the increases in tax???
It limits the percent at which they can raise the tax amount...
Meaning, they can only add a 2% tax on top of what is already there per year only...
So if it is 4% they can only go to 6% instead of what ever they want to make it like the Fed does... but just wait, this to will go and you won't be able to afford your land you live on...
But who cares right? because O'malley is trying or did or will pass laws that says you can't do anything with your own land in Maryland anyway...
I don't know about you, but I would LOVE to pay taxes on land I don't own nor will I ever, and also be told how to use the land... This is awesome-sauce...
Yep and we need a county administrator that can do his job and not want to spend money on others doing it for him. He really needs to go...........he is NOT qualified for it.
Do you realize this country is more and more communist with government telling you what you can and cannot do.
Wicomico County CITIZENS are facing the same tough times.
Wicomico County CITIZENS are facing the same tough times.
Anon 1003 -
Good question. I'll try to give you an answer since my predecessors weren't able to. SEE bottom of comment (after I've replied to the others).
Anon 1019 -
Sorry, but you don't understand the revenue cap. Also, while PlanMD is bad, it's not quite as communist as you're trying to make it out. Almost, but not quite.
Anon 1022 -
First of all, we don't even have a County Administrator right now. We have a County Executive and an Asst. County Administrator. Rick isn't going to hire a County Administrator because Sharon Morris doesn't want to risk confirmation by the council and Rick thinks he'll have extra salary money in his budget.
NOW - the Revenue Cap
Under the cap, county revenue FROM PROPERTY TAXES can only increase 2% per year or the rate of inflation (whichever is less).
Now, if you have new construction, that doesn't count towards the cap. The next year it would be part of the tax base to which the cap applies.
This is why the rate kept going down for several years. Assessments were going up far more than 2% per year. Since the revenue from property taxes is capped, the rate had to come down.
For the FY2012 budget, the rate could have gone up by $0.05 because assessments had decreased. This is what Rick budgeted. However, a majority of the county council would only agree to an increase of $0.01. Because it's a REVENUE cap rather than a rate cap, that additional money cannot be recovered later on. Next year the proposed rate has to be based on the difference in revenue from FY2012 to FY2013.
I know it's a little complicated. The bottom line is that the rate is not capped. It can rise or fall, but that is determined by the total REVENUE from real property taxes.
KEEP THE CAP. CUT THE SPENDING.
ENOUGH IS ENOUGH.....
I would like to see the cap changed froma cap on revenue collected to a cap on the increase of any tax levied. For instance, as it stnads now, the 2% cap means that the county cannot increase REVENUES over 2%. It does not mean that your taxes can only be raised by 2%. That's where the change needs to occur. If there was no cap on revenue, the county could in crease their funds by any amount at any time - but not by raising taxes by more than 2%.
In reference to 10:24am....thank you.
I'm finally glad to see someone use the label "Communist" instead of "Socialist". There nearly opposites in definition. I don't believe that many people who drop the word Socialist so often in posts in here, Grapevine, Facebook etc; even know what "Democratic Socialism" is. The title was QUITE MISUSED when naming countries like the former USSR. They truly were Communist and/or Totalitarian. Not Socialist. Its worth the research.
thanks for listening.
It is a cap on the revenue that can be generated from property tax. The revenue can be only 2% above what it was the previous year.
Therefore during the years that tax assessments were increasing, the tax rate would stay the same or actually decrease. Now with assessments dropping, the council could increase rates X amount as long as the revenue does not increase more than 2% from last year.
The county does not have a cap on how much the tax rate can be increased from year to year. That is why I have always believed that a tax cap would have made more sense. I fear that there were many voters in back in 2001 that did not understand the difference.
10:49--spending has been cut. Now what?
Keep the cap!
Get out of my wallet.
Keep the cap until the gigantic level of wasteful spending is reduced. The spending per resident has more than doubled in the last ten years while the services offered have been significantly reduced. Don't think they'll be repairing any roads or using the leaf collection truck anytime soon but bloated staff and salaries are still around.
Elimination of the cap will only encourage more wasteful spending by the out of touch with reality "public servants".
"I fear that there were many voters in back in 2001 that did not understand the difference."
That's because they were being lied to by VOICE and the lie was repeated by the media who couldn't bother to learn the difference between a tax rate cap (commonly called ta tax cap) and a revenue cap.
Don Coffin always purposefully said "tax cap" and would correct himself quickly, but he knew exactly what he was doing. VOICE wanted people to think they were voting for a RATE cap, a solution even many Democrats at the time (and even now) could support.
Instead, we got a REVENUE cap (and a subsequent ban on transfer taxes, but that's a whole 'nother response). A revenue cap doesn't allow the county to even account for inflation to provide the same level of services to a static number of people after you account for inflation. Forget about trying to supply the same services to a growing number of people, or additional service to anyone.
VOICE lied, and that lie was a conscious pattern of public relations. They wanted the public to believe they were voting for a tax rate cap when all along they knew what damage the revenue cap would do.
And when was the last time anyone heard from Don Coffin and John Palmer, the leaders of VOICE?
Yeah, that's what I thought. Conservatives across the county built those two up into leaders of a new anti-government movement, but as soon as they got what they wanted to help make themselves a bit richer at the expense of the poor and old in Wicomico County and the services they need that have been slashed, they cut and ran.
So remember Don Coffin when Parks & Rec cancels Rec soccer, girls softball and Happy Timers and when Wicomico County becomes the first set of public schools in MD without sports in the next two years.
Remember VOICE and they lied to you.
10:57 - cut the PIO - then tell us spending has been cut....take a poll and see how many citizens think we need a PIO!
Keep the cap - Cut the spending!
10:57 - OK, fine. We won't bother you anymore with police protection. No more sirens down your street.
Your road will never be closed for paving anymore.
We'll stay out of your wallet and keep cutting schools so your grandkid can be in a class of 40.
We'll stop wasting money on volunteer fire departments when you live 20 miles from the closest paid department. Just think, no more fire sirens!
Those pesky kids don't need county Rec programs, anyway.
And you won't have to bother buying a landfill permit anymore, because we're just gonna close it, anyway.
At some point, the people of this county have to figure out what county government service they don't want anymore, because the money's not there with the revenue cap.
To 11:18
Why don't you get a life. I just read where you posted on an earlier article. The only lies that are being told are by you.
You are probably one of the culprits who is on the receiving list - public dole. My advise to you - if you are not satisfied then simply quit. No one is forcing you to work on the public dole. As for myself - I say keep the revenue cap - as it appears to be working.
For anyone to say that public schools are efficient is laughable. Here in Wicomico county, we spend $10,655/student. I browsed through the current budget and found several catagories that were just misc. catagories. In most cases these contained thousands of dollars and in some cases more than the actual line items. $450,000 for software updates and maintanence? Who are directors,coordinators,therapists,psycholigists,social workers in the schools? Don't we have those same positions in other county departments. They total 57 people. Why not cut some of them instead of athletics. Assistants have assistants in county government. efficient? not. OH BTW I send my kids to private schools so I pay for this mess and I pay $6500/year for them to get an education which is what they are there to do, not see how manny good paying union jobs we can create so nobody has to work very hard. Wake up folks
11:31AM "keep the revenue cap - as it appears to be working." I have to disagree with you on that. It is not working like it should. If it is to work right then the County Council should have raised our taxes by six cents.
there still is a LOT of FAT in the wicomico county budget. the boe needs more cuts.
keep the cap/cut the spending.....
If my memory serves me, we originally tried for a tax cap but the same cap put in place in Talbot was struck down in the court system. Voice then wrote the revenue cap as it was the ony "legal" way to achieve the goal of stopping the county government from stealing more of our money.
Everyone has to suffer in this bad economy and not just most of us.I had enough of elected officials trying to keep their standard of living rising when our is declining!
For those of you that want to keep the cap. What services are you willing to live without. Those who keep saying cut the fat, the budget has decreased by 14 million dollars in 3 years. While I don't agree with the PIO position, thinking that getting rid of it will solve the budget problem, you are wrong. The problem with the cap is that there is no mechanism form growth. I have frequently heard people say "what about all these new houses, there has to be money"...wrong. The county did not benefit from the boom because their revenues could only increase by 2% a year. Now think about it, who would benefit from that? The realtors. They could sell houses and tout that there is a cap. Now there are more people to provide services to, with less money. After reading these comments, I am still convinced that many have no idea what the ptrc is, or how it functions. What is your suggestions to fund the Sheriffs department, or start fixing roads, or getting our kids what they need in school. I don't think there was much fat to beging with, and certainly isn't any now. What is happening is services getting cut, not fat. If you wan't the cap, don't complain when the service you want is reduced. This winter, don't dare complain because the roads aren't plowed, or you have a pothole, or it took the police 5 minutes longer to show up. Now they want the income tax reduced. That will make thei county look like a third world country. Boy, I am sure that people would want to move here then, and business certainly want to relocate to an area that looks like crap. Stop with the one liner "cut the fat" it just shows your ignorance.
What people dont understand is when you give government more money,you get bigger government, not better services.
One big problem I see here is the regulations to build your own building and start a business in this state.Its as if they dont want anyone to build here.That is why your low on tax revenue and the homeowners are expected to pick up the slack.
"That is why your low on tax revenue and the homeowners are expected to pick up the slack."
Again, you don't understand the revenue cap. Homeowners DON'T pick up the slack - the revenue from real estate taxes can only go up 2% a year, regardless of inflation.
i AM A CITIZEN AND THE CAP STAYS!
I see comments here regarding the BOE. The only thing the county can do is cut their budget. Then it becomes a pissing match with the good Dr.John and the county. He tries to pin the parents against the county by saying he has to cut the SRO's, sports and even threatens closing a school because the county won't give him the money he needs. We parents are smarter, though, but it seems some of the comments here need to be directed at the BOE.
4:01 - So what programs/people worth $10 million do you want to cut? And what $10 million on top of that do you want to cut the year after? That's what the BOE is facing.
I can't wait to see everyone's reaction when the BOE makes their cuts. Yes, there will be a cut in positions, at central office, in staff, AND in programs. You think they are kidding...just wait.
Also, for the person who says we spend over 10K per student in our schools, take a look at how much the county pays of that compared to the state! Local funds pay for just over 3K which is NEXT TO LAST in the state. Why stop there, lets shoot for last place....out kids derserve that much.
And, for all of you that have criticized the BOE in the past, just remember that THEY were on top of the tax cap vs revenue cap. They knew day 1 what it meant and how it would impact the COUNTY over the years. All I can say, we were warned.
There were four elementary supervisors last year, Mrs. A, Dr. B, Mrs. C (who did media centers and a few schools) and Mr. D (who retired). Now there are Mrs. A, Dr. B, Mrs. E (who does just media), Mrs. C who moved to a low performing school but is still paid as a supervisor, plus a new coordinator position the Board just created a month ago to help one of the supervisors. Added to that are all the Kinder. through grade 12 supervisors in science, social studies, reading, math, p.e., guidance, art and music. Math and reading each also have a coordinator along with the supervisor. Those of you complaining about a PIO for the whole county need to remember the Board has a full time public information person. Ask your child's teacher or principal how many unpaid hours they work at night and on weekends. How many have gotten to hire a coordinator?
The county should place a moratorium on any new construction. We need to try and stop growth since we can't pay for it. If you can't afford more kids, you get fixed. Same thing here. We can't afford more people with less money. I bet the realtards will like that.
As I read this, I am thinking of an earlier post from someone named "SoupySales" (funny in its own right - wonder how many got that one) - see Posted on 10-3-2011 regarding Wicomic BOE Addresses Funding Shortages"...good read
Yup, I agree - keep cutting the fat at the BOE! As a 24 year veteran teacher, I agree that everyone needs to cut back, including teachers. So, I suggest to al the teachers in Wicomico county the following step - work to contract. That means, arrive at precisely the time you are to start work, and leave at precisely the time your work day ends. Do not stay after school for any reason, so that the lights can be turned off, the heat or a.c. (depending on the season) can be turned down or off, and do not take part in any of the thousands of extra things that you normally do for children. I propose that the WCEA support this for exactly 1 week - every teacher, in every school, for just 1 week, and then hold an open meeting to every member of the community at a public place ( such as the civic center) to gather input from the county citizens, as well as share what this proposal could save the tax payees of the county. Now, when I say everything, I mean everything. No before or after school program, no sports (if you coach) - in short, nothing. I invte responses to this, and look forward to spirited and productive conversations.
Respectfully,
T.R.M.
Wicomico County Teacher
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