Just Say ‘No’ to a Property Tax Increase…
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… and let’s see what happens.
Many of us have laughed at the situation in California. And with good reason – the government is threatening to cut school teachers, let criminals out on the street and scale back fire departments, all the while spending countless millions to support a huge illegal immigrant population and fund basket-weaving programs and studies on animal mating. When they are forced to go to the people to ask for more money they get their hand slapped. Don’t ask for more money until you learn to sensibly use the money you already have.
Well, it’s time to get our own house in order. Gwinnett County is set to raise the County portion of YOUR property taxes by at least 25%, and unless the residents of Gwinnett wake up and take action now they will. They are about to have 3 public hearings. Let’s make sure they hear the public.
Here are the main points in the article below that I hope will get your attention:
The 2009 budget is $180 million more than the 2008 budget
The 2009 budget includes $43 million for a rainy day fund
The 2009 budget has almost 100 more County employees
Your mortgage payment could go up by $50/month (or more)
County Administrator Jock Connell claims that the 2009 budget has $33 million in cuts and eliminates 120 positions. These numbers are very difficult to find since the County has not yet released actual expenses from 2008. They haven’t even released their final 2009 budget, only a 1 page summery and the budget resolution. (Just an aside – we are now half way through 2009 – how can you still call this a ‘budget’? Under “budget” on the County’s website it says “The Board of Commissioners adopts the annual budget at their first meeting in January”). But I can’t find these cuts. Look at the numbers that they have released:
2008 Operating Budget – $855,888,557
2008 Capital Budget - $676,352,248
2008 Total Budget - $1,532,240,805
2009 Operating Budget – $951,214,563 (an 11% increase)
2009 Capital Budget - $759,436,421 (a 12.3% increase)
2009 Total Budget - $1,710,650,984 (an 11.6% increase)
In 2007 the total budget went down 2.7%. In 2008 it went down 5.2%. Why can’t it actually go DOWN in 2009? The County implied that it was reducing the budget by $33 million. Did they really want to increase the budget by $212 million and when they only increased it by $178 million they are calling that a cut?
And in an absolutely absurd response (to the Services issue the County is having with the cities, to cash flow problems, who knows) the County has decided it will now deliver police service to cities that already have their own police force – and make the residents pay for it. Bannister says it is the ‘law’ that the County operate a county wide police department. I don’t know what law he is citing, but it should be changed. After all it hasn’t been enforced, well, ever, so why start when there is no money? Here is a better idea, Mr. Chairman. If you feel so strongly about funding police inside all the cities why not just send them money for the departments they already have in place? That would be far easier and faster than hiring 372 more officers (as you propose) when you already have a number of jobs that you cannot fill even in this economy.
The 2009 Budget Resolution authorizes $43,137,994 that will be put in a reserve account. Realize that this is money above what they plan on spending. How is this justified when times are so tough? What if (God forbid) the County has already spent more money than it had in its reserve fund and is trying to put the money back before they get caught?
According to numbers presented in their 2008 budget, the County would have 4,893 employees in 2008. Although Mr. Connell that says the 2009 budget eliminates 120 positions the County’s website (as of this writing, anyway) says that it adds 98 positions.
One more thing and I will shut up. The 2009 Budget Resolution shows revenue from property taxes at $356 million, which is a 27% increase over the 2008 budget number of $280 million. To me it looks like they have known about this coming tax increase at least since March 3 when the resolution was adopted. Yet they wait until a holiday week just 14 days before the vote to announce the property tax increase. The County says that the increase is just a few dollars a day for most residents, but most residents pay their property tax bill through an escrow account which has been collecting money all year. Now they will have to pay catch up to withhold the extra money resulting in a significant increase in your mortgage payment – I estimate over $150/month in my case.
So – what can the Commissioners do? Skip the rainy day fund increase ($43 million) drop the ridiculous idea of adding police coverage where cities already cover ($17 million) don’t hire the extra employees (maybe $750,000 after overhead) and you are almost back to 2008 numbers. Then do like the rest of us and tighten your belt – I promise, we will understand and even applaud you for it.
So – what can Gwinnett residents do?
1 – E-mail the commissioners now. Multiple times. It’s easy, free, and probably annoys them:
Charles.Bannister@gwinnettcounty.com
Shirley.Lasseter@gwinnettcounty.com
Bert.Nasuti@gwinnettcounty.com
Mike.Beaudreau@gwinnettcounty.com
Kevin.Kenerly@gwinnettcounty.com
2 – Show up at one of the meetings at Gwinnett Justice and Administration Center (GJAC). Here is the schedule (conveniently planned so you have to miss work):
May 26 – 3:30 and 5:30 p.m.
June 2 – 10:30 a.m.
I know, you have other things to do. But this is important. Let’s do this as an experiment and see if we can make a difference. I work in Alpharetta, have a broken foot and am on crutches and I plan to be there.
A couple of observations on your excellent article on the tax increase:
The tax increase is not (or, at least, shouldn’t be) a surprise. From the information released at the time of the budget’s approval, I was able to calculate (roughly) the expected increase. My calculation formed the basis of my article at this site, “Are You Ready for Higher Taxes?” which I published on February 25.
Apparently, it shouldn’t have been a surprise to the Commission as well… published reports are that the county has known that 2009 would be the `year of reckoning` for several years. Makes you wonder why the Commission wasn’t able to soften the blow a bit.
I can tell you one reason why. There is no law requiring taxing authorities to adopt a mathematically-correct rate. The adoption of the millage rate therefore becomes a political decision and, for many years the Commission has rolled back or maintained a constant rate to make the politicians look good even as the county dips into reserves to make up the deficit.
I am guessing on this because I haven’t confirmed, but I bet that the $43 million is to replenish some of the funds used over recent years. Because of deficit tax rates and other reasons, the county has spent from reserves to the point that our bond rating is threatened. The restoration of the reserve account is a legitimate expense… it was the spending of reserve funds for non-emergencies that is the problem.
Finally, the “we have to raise taxes because we will now police the cities” argument is bogus. Bannister is trying to confuse taxpayers, and for that he should be ashamed.
That isn’t to say that the cost of overlapping services and their cost to taxpayers isn’t a legitimate issue and one that affects expenses and the tax rate. But the county is in a battle to maintain its tax revenue stream while the cities raise a legitimate complaint about double taxation.
The cities aren’t being totally genuine in their argument, however. The county PD currently polices the entire county, regardless of whether or not a city PD exists. If a municipal property owner called the county PD, it would respond and would have the authority to do so if the city PD couldn’t. I regularly see county officers enforcing traffic law within cities. City property owners benefit from the county PD and should pay a fair share for the service.