Remember last year
after Pollitt unveiled the County's Proposed Operating budget for fiscal year
2012 - 2013. Remember what his administration touted - Wicomico is
well on its way to a remarkable economic recovery - signs of robust
employment. Even the BOE director - John Frederickson was 'hoodwinked' into believing
that Wicomico was poised for a quick recovery - as he even touted 'there are encouraging employment signs' at a public meeting held at Wicomico Senior
High School.
GA Harrison, myself
and a few others stood up and called him out on it. GA Harrison even held a
public event warning the public about the 'Fictional
Budget'.
Guess what - here
at SBYnews - all of our reporting staff - was DEAD ON THE BULLS
EYE in predicting this economy's eventual outcome.
WICOMICO IS EXPERIENCING ONE OF THE DEEPEST RECESSIONS ON
RECORD!
Highlights of County Administrator's
proposed operating budget for 2013-2014
1. Diminishing
sales tax collections
2. Declining real
estate property valuations
3. Declining state
& local income collections
4. County's pension
fund seriously underfunded
5. Impact of state
shift of Schoolteachers pension fund will now escalate to unsustainable levels
as county liability will soon double.
6. Reduced local
area workforce numbers continue downward spiral
I am not making this
stuff up - see it for yourself
Posted by Beezer - SBYnews Contributor
53 comments:
Looks like the Rickster needs Jim Fineran to help hoodwink the public one more time!
Wanna bet Strausberger was part of that con job?
I'm going to step in here for a second and throw in my two cents.
Wayne is an honorable man. He is far from a politician and has been, (up until recently) in the private business sector all his life.
The unfortunate thing about the media, (yes, that includes Blogs) is that Wayne rarely gets the opportunity to defend what is written as there is two sides to a story.
In this case I know Beezer is accurate but for commenter's to start pointing the finger at Wayne is just wrong.
If you ever have a problem with Wayne, CALL HIM. He will gladly take your call and explain his position.
Rick, (on the other hand) admits to being a liberal politician who happens to be an elected official of whom YOU voted for. Wayne is an EMPLOYEE of the County.
THINK the next time you cast your vote. Oh, I forgot, this is Wicomico County where things are just supposed to fix themselves.
After looking at the County data on the weblink - this county cannot afford to incur any more debt. Even the proposed BMS project should be tabled. In my honest assessment, this county's economy is in shambles.
10:46 AM - as is most of the Nation. Surely you do not believe this is only a Wicomico County problem. The two Os were voted into office by the people with a nanny state brain. When are the real tax payers going to stop complaining and turn this nation around. Until we can stop this "Gimmee " way thinking it will only continue to get worse.
Who is Wayne?
This is what they refer to in stock trading as a - 'Dead Cat Bounce' - in that the small uptick indicating a recovery is in fact a long term downward trend. The administrations, both county & school, got fooled.
Thanks Salisbury News for your unbiased reporting. Your media is truly a valuable asset to our community.
Looking at the numbers it's easy to see what is happening:
Pols want to spend feel good money (new school buildings, free lunches, a huge base of government employees with non-commensurate pay and benefits type of things) while ignoring functions typically the role of local governments (roads, police protection, community services), with taxes so steep people go elsewhere (is interesting that the closer to neighboring states a county is, the lower the tax collections, or that government controlled (expensive) items like alcohol sales. Delmar, DE has five profitable liquor stores employing more people, with sales prices low enough to make the drive than Wicomico's four stores; add in Gumboro, Fenwick, Dorchester County, and other free market operations and see the hit the county is taking. Inreased Sales taxes, cigarette taxes, gasoline taxes, real estate taxes, and governmental regulations on property rights and life styles has the unintended consequence of driving people away and eroding the financial base.
Probably about time we elected clear thinking people in the City, County, and State to try to reverse the government sponsored decay.
Joe, please mention how the county has cut services to Fruitland, Salisbury and Delmar. Those of us that live in those municipalities pay as much in county taxes as county-only residents, but we get very little for the millions we give them. Terry Cohen pointed out to Pollitt that county snow plows literally pick up their plows when they are on city streets, even if the distance between the county roads they are plowing is one block. Yet there has been no change.
The county does as little as possible for municipal residents.
Responding to 10:46 Posting
I just wonder if the current county council would have voted in favor of the BMS had they known - then - where we are now in our county's finances. I doubt very seriously they would have gone forward with the project. From looking at the county website data - Wicomico is in terrible financial shape with no end in sight.
The county pension fund is not "seriously underfunded". How do you draw that conclusion?
11:43 AM - IMO they would have gone ahead with BMS. The mentality of the liberal politicians today is just keep spending, we can just keep taxing.
Sadly somebody keeps voting those idiots back into office. Problem is there are now more "I got it free" than "I proudly worked to pay for mine" (and yours). Quite frankly I am fed up with the Nanny State we all are now living in.
Fact...How would a county snow plow operator know if the City may have just salted a particular road and subsequently plowed the salt off? Just so you know, the county plows and salts several miles of City streets...fact...secondly, the city actually has more personnel than the county does in their road crew with a third of the mileage to maintain. Fact. Whatever, if anything, the county provides to Salisbury, they should equally provide to all the other incorporated towns. And yes, please tell what services the county has recently cut to Salisbury, Fruitland and Delmar? Each of those Cities elected to retain their own HUR funding years ago and with that, took on the responsibility of maintaining its own streets with their own budget. Fact.
Your municipality pays exactly zero towards education, which is the bulk of the county budget. Ther are also many services that you receive that are not provided by your municipality. You choose to live in an incorporated town, and the taxes you pay them are for services in addition to what you receive from the county.
The prediction has happened!
The entire country has gone crazy with spending my money.
It's over folks , no turning around with any election. We tried that without success at the city and the country level.
We are now a socialist nation , only war will bring us back. I was praying for good results , it didn't happen.
Who will lead us , maybe Ted Nugent or Glenn Beck , need someone with military background.
I am sitting back just watching this town/country go to hell in a handbag, thanks Osmelly,Liarton, omama.
THE 3 Fn STOOGES.
Anonymous said...
After looking at the County data on the weblink - this county cannot afford to incur any more debt. Even the proposed BMS project should be tabled. In my honest assessment, this county's economy is in shambles.
April 14, 2013 at 10:46 AM
You can blame Stevie Prettyman for the change of heart and calling for a special meeting to move forward with the Bennett Middle School project. What things people will do for the voters for a vote.
To 11:33 Posting - Wait till you get the state's new impervious service stormwater management fee. This will most likely be tacked onto your real estate property tax bill. AH - Yes - and didn't the state double the flush tax from year over year. I swear - isn't there an end in sight to this lunacy?
It won't change until Republicans get off their asses and vote these liberal Democrats out. Even in today's Daily Rag, the liberal Democrat Geoff Smoot was calling the lower shore Delegates and Sheriff Lewis cowards for not supporting the gun bill. His statement was "They misinterpret The Constitution and the Second Amendment. Since when was The Constitution up for interpretation?
Dear 12:04 uneducated -
The municipality does not pay the county toward education BUT ITS TAXPAYERS DO. Every single taxpayer in Salisbury also pays COUNTY taxes, which go for education.
You are obviously ignorant of how things work. The city taxpayer also pays for things people outside the limits enjoy without ever paying a penny towards them. Everything a city taxpayer enjoys outside the city limits THE CITY TAXPAYER PAID COUNTY TAXES FOR.
Get the facts before you spout.
To 11:55 Posting
How do I come to you come to that conclusion?
Answer: http://dls.state.md.us/data/polanasubare/polanasubare_taxnfispla/2011-Sustainability-Commission-2010-Interim-Report.pdf
Insert the above link into your google web browser - and then go to page 21. You will see just how bad of shape the Maryland Pension fund is really in. Why do you think they - (State) - passed it down to the counties. The taxpayers are the ones getting hosed as the State even took Federal Stimulus money trying to mask and prop-up the fund.
Here is an excerpt for your convenience:
In October 2009, the Board of Public Works cancelled the remaining $46.0 million that had yet to
be paid into the trust fund as a cost containment measure. The State made no additional
contributions to the trust fund in fiscal 2010 or 2011. As of September 2010, the OPEB trust
fund held $186.9 million, which represents approximately 1.2% of the State’s total OPEB
liability
It was Stevie Prettyman who wanted the special meeting so she could vote in favor of paying for the new Bennett Middle School. She caved in for votes, but she lost mine.
Read my comment. The municipalities do not fund any aspect of education. Taxpayers within municipalities fund education through their county taxes. Education makes up the largest piece of the pie in the county budget. There are also other things that your municipality does not fund that are funded by the county that you receive services for, courts, detention center, emergency management, elections, etc. These are facts. While there are some duplication of services, your county taxes go to fund things that your municipality does not. Read and comprehend a comment before spouting.
Beezer, the "county" pension fund and the "state" pension fund are two different things. I agree that the state pension is in trouble, but the county pension is in good shape. Perhaps you should have made a distinction between the two in your original comment.
This link and your explanation is about the state pension, not the county pension. Apples/oranges.
The school teachers pension liability is now being carried over onto the Counties balance sheet as a separate line item via the legislation that was enacted by the 2012 Special Session. This is commonly referred to as the school teachers pension shift whereby the State passed this obligation onto each Maryland municipality. I can go on and explain the ramifications - but this topic necessitates a separate article in the very near future.
Maybe you can correct your original post and instead state that the State pension is underfunded, rather than that County pension that county employees contribute a large chunk of their paycheck to and the County has been diligent in funding appropriately, unlike that State has with their pension.
A prime example of the way this County operates....MACKES and Rec and Parks apparently gave the portajohn contract for their mud event this weekend to a man who stole from the county. if i'm not mistaken, the Sheriff stopped his truck with stolen fuel in it...remember the landfill debacle....or am I confused.
Of course the excuse will probably be that Tall Tales secured the portajohns....they always have an excuse - don't they? Someone from the County dropped the ball...as usual.
The public needs to get with it and see who is really running this County...it is a handful of those who think the rest of us are stupid...and if we don't get it together and throw them out of office and removed from their paid county positions - they will be correct!!!
Talk talk talk
The ONLY way to change the bad conditions here in wicomico county is to vote for people who really care about the people in this area who pay taxes that are being wasted. Salisbury and wicomico sucks because of our representative, It;s time to get rid of these dinosaurs. That even goes for Congress.
3:56 the county had nothing to do with that event.
Obama, O'Mally, O'Pollitt and O' Ireton are going to bleed this state into a hemorage! We can have the highest piggyback tax in the nation, but it does no good when so many are either out of work completely or working two jobs making less than they did at one job 8 years ago.
12:41. there is no state impervious water fee. the state has mandated that each county must meet " watershed diet " mandates. The state has not mandated how they are funded. Any funding us a local decision. Of course , the state is mum on how these mandates will be paid for .... just like they are mum on how educational mandates will be funded
Rick is a lying slob. Everyone knows it. Even he does but since he's never worked a day in his life, he has to keep lying to make a living. Sad state in the county with this clown in charge.
5:06.
it's ok to be a blind partisan. it's ok not to line Rick . But your assertions are total BS
4 31 think you are incorrect....check out their many full color ads in Daily Times
What about the 26+ million dollar surplus that the county is sitting on? This was asked at the budget hearing and Rick side stepped the question. Yes, it may raise our bond rating but this is taxpayer money. Use some of it now!
it was not a county sponsored event. call the organizers and ask.
You are correct. As a city resident I am taxed twice for some services. An independent study verified this. It is undeniable.
What is wrong with you people. We all live here in this county together. If you can't find solutions and give help, then stop bit--ing. It's get old. And, what the heck do you know anyway. As soon as someone doesn't agree with you, then you bash the hell out of them as a person. This whole post makes me sick.
5:45 that question is a self indulgent red herring asked by people totally unconcerned with any other county needs.
The people at the top at BOE know better. They just don't have the courage to answer YOU honestly
The problem is the tax payers are paying for the pension plan versus the employees (sorry employees, your contributions are not even being close to what the private sector pays).
Geoff Smoot and every other liberal in this town will be hiding behind a gun owner, except Chuck Cook who owns a .45
Cook is the type that should not be allowed to have a gun.
But mike has such pretty uniforms
Wow, I just love the mentality of some of the debaters. "This is what I say, believe it and don't challenge me, or I will attack you every chance I get and call you every name I can think of".
Nice job guys. Now I can see why nothing changes and all the bad things keep happening in this area. Some of you truly deserve what you get in regards to 'leaders'.
7:21
With all due respect, I am not a BOE employee. I am just a concerned citizen that wants to see our county get to the point of other surrounding counties. We are the laughing stock of the state.
5:45
Joe-
Since the Daily Times won't do it, please publish the salary of the top 25 county employees, including Pollitt and Strausburg. If they don't show them in Pollitt's budget, file a public information request.
Amen! 7:17 AM. It use to happen but hasn't in years. We taxpayers deserve the answer to this question.
Anonymous said...
5:06.
it's ok to be a blind partisan. it's ok not to line Rick . But your assertions are total BS
April 14, 2013 at 5:10 PM
"line Rick?"
WTH are you talking about?
By the way I think 5:06 was right on the money.
Anonymous Anonymous said...
Cook is the type that should not be allowed to have a gun.
April 15, 2013 at 12:31 AM
And Chuck Cook does have a gun. He brags about it on FB all the time. Interesting though he supports O'Malley's gun control.
Don't get me wrong, education is very important and certainly a drawing card for new people wanting to move into this area. But with the finances they way they are AT THIS TIME, I do not agree with giving the BOE more money for education. The teacher's and their unions need to learn in hard economic times to use their education to do more with less, and use their imaginations to come up with ideas to teach with less at least for this fiscal year.
It is very clear, businesses are leaving, and people don't have the money for higher taxes. With what the crazy governor has done, taxing the rain GOD sends, people can't pay the higher city and county taxes.
I heard the same teacher (the blonde, who has lived in the county for 40 yrs. speak the exact same speech she spoke at the last budget meeting last year). Teachers are leaving because they are seeking better employement in other states, not in MD because MD is destroying the state in keeping with the president's agenda.
Pollitt needs to understand basic math and get back to it quickly. You cannot spend money that is not there. Taxpayers cannot afford anymore increases in taxes just to have tax and spend politicians throw it away.
The budget has to be at a maintain and hold for this new budget and trim so more fluff from the budget. Look at the numbers next year and go from there. Going into debt for BMS at this time is certain death. Waiting one more year will not kill anyone, but it will kill the taxpayers.
You can't get blood from a turnip, and you can't get more money from the taxpayers when they are losing jobs faster than they are being created.
Call the County Council office let them know how you feel, you can bet that the BOE will be doing it. 548 4696
An independent study proved that the county taxes us for redundant services. Maryland allows, and in some instances forces, counties to give municipal residents a tax differential aka a small break on their taxes. Cohen was attempting to work with the cash poor county to give them a way forward without having to come out of pocket. It's totally unethical for the county to keep money for redundant services. Other, more honorable, counties recognize this and act accordingly. I also want to make very clear that this is not a partisan issue. Counties headed by members of both parties give a tax differential. Rick Pollitt agreed with the tax differential for 22 years as the Town Manager of Fruitland, then when we gave him the power to do something about it he "changed his mind" after 22 years. He has admitted this in public and at meetings.
Responding to 8:57 Post
From the looking at the counties diminishing revenue numbers, Pollitt is in no position to be giving anybody anything. If things don't improve this county could end up just like Stockton, CA or Flint, MI. Let's face it, it just ain't happening economically.
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