Friends and Supporters of the Albemarle Truth in Taxation Alliance,
I must offer thanks and appreciation to each of the thirty-one different readers of last weeks report who contacted me. I have responded to each reader who called or mailed and was overwhelmed by their vast knowledge of Albemarle County and saddened by some of the accounts of waste recounted. Over time I hope to address every item brought to my attention and make every citizen of Albemarle County aware of these issues.
Reading your emails has reinforced my firm belief that ATTA members accept their share of responsibility for the financial well-being of Albemarle. ATTA members are a self-reliant group and never look to have decisions handed to them, but in accepting that responsibility ATTA members understand, good decisions cannot be made based on tainted information.
ATTA began because an error of omission of information by county officials. Despite common rhetoric, ATTA has never called for slashing taxes or services in Albemarle County. ATTA has only sought accountability and full transparency from government so that you can base your decisions unhindered.
ATTA will continue to evaluate two simple metrics:
- What is being said by the county?
Is it accurate? Is it complete? ATTA looks to informed you if something has been omitted.
- What is being done by the county?
The most simple measure of accountability is matching word to deed.
Keith Drake often repeated to me variations of the old adage -Where there’s smoke, there’s fire. I learned this week that many of you hold puzzle pieces showing there is a lot of smoke out there. I appreciate your help and we will work together to find and put out every fire.
James L. Stern
TRUTH ON TUESDAY Edition 2
Why 76.2 cents is not an honest starting point for the real estate tax rate discussion?
ATTA hopes to assess the details leading to nearly 10 million dollars in savings presented by County Executive, Tom Foley to the Supervisors in the afternoon session on October 5th, 2011. But there is more concern to evaluate school finances and comfort with the county budget is bolstered by the adopted zero based budgeting approach. This requires re-justifying the departmental budget differences as part of the 2012 cycle. ATTA the document details will show how the individual departments achieved the savings, if they are repeatable, and possibly room for even more improvement.
The school budget has sometimes included phantom savings. When a position is eliminated that never existed, it is less than truthful to say that you have cut costs. The County Executives Budget Office has demonstrated better financial reporting practices. Confidence in those practices, along with using the past to predict the future, indicate it is more likely the school budget, not the county budget, may be problematic in the details. With limited resources ATTA will concentrate for the short term on the school funding request.
This is not to say the County Executives Budget Office, the Board of Supervisors and their Spokeswoman have always presented things in a uniform manner, without discrepancies and with full disclosure.
Issues never have two sides. That would be too simple. There often are as many points of view as the number of people involved. But there can only be one choice made, we must demand to have the complete picture, then we all can accept the challenge to work together and strive to make the best decisions.
So, before switching gears, let us finish the ATTA position on the 2012 real estate tax rate as set up by the Report from last week and note a few additional points made by readers of the last ATTA Truth on Tuesday Report.
Even though required to start budget discussions at a 76.2 cent rate, that is not the most honest starting point
The BOS makeup dictates ATTA doesn’t waste resources on the rate discussion but these facts show, not what the rate should be, but where the discussion should start.
- An approved annual budget is still just a projection, not a guarantee. Only at the year end is the actual budget known, and there will always be differences that surface.
- The county reported publicly the expected difference over the course of the 2011 budget is about $10 million dollars.
- The BOS is legally bound to use best efforts in setting the tax rate so the approved and ending budgets are within reasonable tolerance.
- Training sessions for any Board position, even the tiniest foundation, will teach that it is not a ‘best practice’ to use the unspent funds from operational expenses for any non-operational purpose.
- The BOS always follows the rules with regard to material changes in the budget mid-cycle, but the timing still usurps the rights of the taxpayers. Financial discussions outside the spring budget focus are often under the radar for the general public.
- It is on record, Duane Snow and Dennis Rooker proposed a 75.2 cent real estate rate be set for 2011.
- After the October 5th presentation of the anticipated surplus by Mr. Foley, the County Spokeswoman Lee Catlin neglects to tell the media about the $10 Million surplus, but covers the possibility of a $1 Million dollar shortfall for 2012. Look at Lee Catlin’s words from www.newsplex.com about the projected shortfall and the concerns of the County:
Despite the unwanted budget news, Catlin says things could be worse.
“We don’t find ourselves in the same situation that we have been in recent years when we’ve had a very significant [gap] to make up. We’re not there, but it’s concerning to us to have a $1 million decline,” she explained.
The county’s largest revenue source is real estate taxes. As the local and national markets continue to decline, revenues are falling with them.
So what is the sum of these facts?
This budget season will not contain any major shift in the rate, most likely settling on the 76.2 cent ‘equalized rate’. With an evenly split Board it seems the four votes required to make significant changes is nearly impossible. But with what you know you can help set the record straight as parents parade their children in front of both the School Board and the Supervisors asking to raise the tax rate because there isn’t enough money.
Any budget discussion that starts with a 74.2 cent rate or the 76.2 cent equalized rate does not start using a truthful baseline. The 74.2 cent rate was simply wrong, and clearly the 75.2 cent rate proposal was about 1.4 million dollars more so.To have a zero difference between the projections and the actual budgets would have required a rate set of 67 cents, 7.2 cents less than the rate we paid. That is just simple math and beyond dispute. This would not make each line item correct but would have eliminated the over collection of 10 million dollars unnecessarily from the people.
- Any budget discussion that starts with a 74.2 cent rate or the 76.2 cent equalized rate does not start using a truthful baseline. The 74.2 cent rate was simply wrong, and clearly the 75.2 cent rate proposal was about 1.4 million dollars more so.
- To have a zero difference between the projections and the actual budgets would have required a rate set of 67 cents, 7.2 cents less than the rate we paid. That is just simple math and beyond dispute. This would not make each line item correct but would have eliminated the over collection of 10 million dollars unnecessarily from the people.
- Under our county policy of zero based budgeting the departmental budgets must be rejustified annually. 2012 budget should take the equalized rate of 76.2 cents, subtract the 7.2 cents representing the over collection of taxes, and honest discussion begins with 69 cents as the starting point.
- No one can expect absolute perfection in budgeting, as it is only part science and especially difficult in volatile economic times. But Supervisors Snow and Rooker were heading in the wrong direction calling for a higher rate.
- An honest starting point of 69 cents does not mean that in the end the budget would not need to be right back at 76.2 cents. But it would require the county to follow zero based budgeting and explain the 2012 budget changes from the true starting point.
- It is not for ATTA to say why, but be aware the Boyd and Foley chose to tell the whole story while the media and our Spokeswoman decided not to tell you. Her words when this and other quotes are looked at in full, seem to have an agenda, but you must draw your own conclusions.
- An honest starting point of 69 cents does not mean that in the end the budget would not need to be right back at 76.2 cents. But it would require the county to follow zero based budgeting and explain the 2012 budget changes from the true starting point.
- It is not for ATTA to say why, but be aware the Boyd and Foley chose to tell the whole story while the media and our Spokeswoman decided not to tell you. Her words when this and other quotes are looked at in full, seem to have an agenda, but you must draw your own conclusions.
An easy view of the whole picture
You can think of this whole issue as being similar to the handling of your check book at home. If you save money on some utility bills and build up $100 in savings, you can go out and spend it or save it. If you have spent much of the past three years at the dinner table discussing tight times ahead and choose to spend the money on a new Kindle or Nook, then you might be subjected to a few choice words from your spouse if you need to raid the savings account to cover day to day expenses. We have cut capital spending budgets drastically in Albemarle County, that does not change what is the right thing to do. Moving operational spending to optional spending does not fit in with the cries of continued economic hardship.
A quick look at the other part of the equation
All who mailed felt a new library in Crozet is needed, but of much smaller proportions. Details from ATTA members are worth noting. I do not know if this boondoggle can be stopped but ATTA will now put the library project front and center on the watch list.
ATTA has not verified all the information provided by readers, but they are an informed and intelligent group,and when the same details come from multiple readers via email, there is no danger in repeating to all these items, with the understanding more details are sure to surface.
On the Crozet Library:
- Every reader response noted that libraries are dying in the traditional sense as a book repository. Statistics from the readers indicate an 85% or greater decline over the 20 years from 1995 to 2015.
- This physical building size is huge and is wasteful for many reasons the most often cited, the meeting space included when there are seven current public buildings within a stones throw.
- The new buildings physical size will be nearly double the size of the Crozet firehouse was shocking to many Crozet area residents.
- Several readers mention the proposed library plan appears not to heed several of the county’s own planning directives. ATTA can only say at this time of the charges levied at least one item of complaint appears to be true based on a quick review. The library design seems to be at odds with county planning by ignoring their call for the use of regulated parking in these types of projects.
On the pool cover:
There was uniform condemnations and not one comment in support, even from within Crozet.
On the firing range for police training
ATTA is fully aware of the needs for law enforcement training and heard the day of the vote that there was a $1.4 Million earmark for the range.
ATTA Chairman Jim Stern is a former military officer, who began his service in the Virginia National Guard Armory in Staunton. Vice-Chairman of ATTA, Bill Smith, retired after 32 years in law enforcement. ATTA has taken the stance that a community that is not safe has little value and has repeated publicly the call for safety services to remain paramount.
Bill Smith is just starting to prepare a report for a future issue of ATTA Truth on Tuesday. But from a purely financial point of view and not in any way to diminish ATTA’s expressions of support for law enforcement, there are already some concerns, despite the appearance of a need for the facility.
- Albemarle has already built two ranges that failed. This time a range needs to be done in a manner that provides long term viability for the range. This range cannot be built and then close due to neighborhood complaints or lack of on-going funding support.
- ATTA will always have reservations about entering into anything with potential financial impact with the City of Charlottesville. The treatment of Albemarle by the city in the past, and the treatment of its own officers recently under Mayor Norris certainly gives reason for pause and closer scrutiny
Next Week- How To ’Speak School’ - Beware the Details
