A Taxpayer's Perspective

I attend many County Council meetings, budget meetings, Legislative Breakfasts and hearings because I want to know what is really going on within our local government. At some of these events you can ask questions and get an answer. Most of our budget hearings are like this. You can ask Mr. Pollitt or Mr. Fredericksen a question and they will answer you right there. At our County Council meetings there is a time at the end for "Public Comments".  It is exactly what it says "Comments".  Don't expect any questions to be answered because it is what it states "Public Comment". However, there have been times when I have seen council members actually answer a quick question.  At a recent Legislative Breakfast (which I feel is a good event) you the taxpayer have absolutely no input other than to pay for the meal your local representatives are consuming and you get the honor of sitting there watching them eat. At no point can you ask a questions or provide any input.  Now remember when you go to the Maryland Legislature you at least have the opportunity to sign up and speak on any of the bills and I've had many questions answered. Here in Wicomico County I feel that our county government and local legislative representatives miss out on the practical perspective that the citizens could  bring forward.



Example No. 1:

Here's an example. At the Legislative Breakfast questions were asked about what was Garrett County doing that was causing their revenues to increase. It appears that they have been developing businesses of extreme sports where athletes can train for Olympic sports. What a unique idea. Businesses that fit their geographical area. Now what does our area have here on the Shore that would attract a steady revenue stream. I know you have the answer. It was very quickly mentioned at the breakfast and quickly forgotten. For years at meetings I have heard this mentioned  but again it is quickly forgotten. I hear about why this can't be done and what the insurmountable problems are. Yet we seem to have Delegates who can bring in funding for libraries at local institutions that won't add a dime to county revenues or they can fix a pier somewhere or spend time naming crab cakes as the 'official state food' - but why haven't they taken the lead on the Eastern Shore Medical University?  Where's that you ask? It's right here in our local education institutions. Just look at some of the fantastic areas of medicine being taught at the University of Maryland Eastern Shore, Salisbury University and without exception Wor-Wic Tech Community College. Our county government spends thousands and thousands of our taxpayers dollars on these "experts" like the Sage Group who was brought-in and came to the conclusion that the "Inventory Tax" was bad for business growth. Come on local government, our businesses and taxpayers were saying this for years, don't charge you a dime and you just wouldn't listen to them.

Then there's the group who came up from Florida - to tell you the Civic Center needs some renovation and by the way Wicomico County is not an "End Destination". How much did that one cost the taxpayers? In my personal opinion all these wasted funds could have gone into the logistics for our Medical School.  Now Local Officials, I know you read Salisbury News so let's hear some response as to why this hasn't been done and what you can do to move this along and help this economically depressed area.

February 4,  2014 - County Council Meeting:

This brings me to another  meeting I recently attended. The County Council meeting last Tuesday night. I was glad to see the more than usual four or five citizens there. I believe part of the reason was because pay issues were being brought up. Now here is one meeting where one of our council members, Bob Culver, did step in - and asked;

'that because so many of you did turn out was there any way that the council president could open the floor for public input'

- and it was done!  This is good because normally on a resolution, I've never seen much public input allowed at that time. (Now for all you readers who have more knowledge on procedure in that area  I would welcome any input that you have).

Example No. 2:

Here is another example of where perhaps if input from our taxpayers had been considered even just a little we might be in just a little better financial situation.  Last year a meeting was held between a couple ordinary taxpayers and some county officials at which time important financial information was presented from reliable sources that the citizens thought could help our government during the year. The citizens presented a simple deductive reasoning style of presentation on funding. The county uses a Regression Analysis style which allows for too many variables - such as an over optimistic county executive and assumptions by departments heads that run contrary to facts. While it's nice for Mr. Pollitt to be optimistic, the citizens deserve facts, so that they can plan their lives.

If the citizen's information had  been given any consideration then perhaps the county would not have spent a half million on grass cutting equipment, three quarters of a million dollars above the budget for the BOE or I don't know how much was spent on last years selective pay raises.

What did happen was that another council member chewed the members out who had the audacity  to meet with those citizens. What a shame. The public comments on the resolution about transferring money around in a shell game style should be watched by citizens at PAC 14 (click onto PAC 14 link to view). You really need to know how the experts are handling your hard earned tax dollars.

The next public input was about employee raises and you could tell the citizens are upset. This is there area that I think mostly points out what I mean about our officials not seriously considering the people's input. For years the people have been telling local government that things are not getting better in this county. Yet the county government just continues to spend, spend, spend. If the government had listened years before then the one person, who in my opinion, truly deserves a pay adjustment would have been our County Sheriff. Put the Sheriff's salary next to the BOE Superintendent and what do you see? 85K vs 172K.  Put the Sheriff's salary next to over 15 administration personnel at the BOE. 85K vs 99K. Does anyone see the problem here? Try getting  in the middle of a domestic sometime knowing that's were a lot of injuries and deaths occur.Walk up behind a stopped car and wonder if that hand is going to pop out the window with a gun. Speak Out. Our County Charter has listed in order the categories of priorities on service: Public Safety (Sheriff's Department/Fire Fighters and Ambulance), Education. And yes, I did get up and speak out against county raises. It was not because the people do not deserve raises it is because our county simply will not admit that we are in a recession and that they have to have the backbone to make the hard decisions. 4-3 just doesn't cut it! Here's a question for anyone commenting on this article. We have all heard the famous quote -

 "Salisbury is the fifth most dangerous small city of twenty five thousand people in America"

 What is it now and why is it that figure? I ask that the citizens get educated about the issues for this up coming election, vote the issues and change what is happening in our county. 

John Palmer