We Have Two Options – We Can Give Up Or We Can Keep Swinging
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Although they would race each other to the nearest microphone to deny it, the Commissioners believe that we do not know anything about running the County. But government is really just a company with a few special advantages – the most egregious being that they can take more money whenever they need it. Those of us running a family, a business or a company do not have that option. If we work up a budget and discover our spending will be more than our income we cut spending. It may mean we just give up a trip to Disney, but if that isn’t enough we keep going. We may have to give up going to the movies as often, or maybe eat out only once every other week. But guess what? If we still need to cut we do so – giving up cable TV, donations to a cancer society or even new tires for the car.
The County made the cuts for show (Gwinnett Glows, reducing public pool hours) and then went beyond that and made a few more. But with a spending budget that is approaching $1 Billion (this does not include a capital budget close to $750 Million) they still find themselves short of projected revenue for 2009.
I predict we will have a situation similar to the Trash Plan. The County has had a public hearing on the budget and has now approved it. When they go to increase property taxes to cover the spending the residents of Gwinnett will be outraged. The Commissioners can then say that they had the hearings and voted on the budget and that now they need to go ahead and do the responsible thing and fund it.
The Commissioners should have adopted a budget that would require no additional taxes – Commissioner Beaudreau voted against it for this very reason. In fact they should have erred on the conservative side. We may actually be just at the beginning of economic hardships, and in my opinion the County should be setting money aside. “Hope for the best but plan for the worse,” my dad always said. With a total spending plan of around $1.7 Billion there was certainly an additional $100 Million or so that could be trimmed. Yes it will be painful but our citizens are making painful choices already. For instance, the number of county workers per 1,000 residents has increased almost every year under Charles Bannister, and significant savings could probably be realized by simply returning to 2004 levels.
Would you be surprised to discover that the 2009 budget is actually about 15% LARGER than the 2008 budget? Did the population in Gwinnett increase by 15 percent? Without a tax increase will their revenue increase? If the answer to both of these questions is “no” then why are we spending MORE money in 2009 than we did in 2008?
In 2008 they planned for about 70% – 75% of the County’s revenue to come from property taxes, with the next largest chunk (15% or so) coming from sales taxes. With reduced spending the burden will shift in 2009, leaving a large property tax increase as their only option.
But it doesn’t have to be. Write your Commissioner and let them know that you want the County to show the same discipline as its residents. Then no matter what happens with the budget you know that you did what you could, and will have a clear conscience when you come back to fight the tax increase. Just because the money is budgeted it doesn’t have to be spent. The County is not able (except in certain circumstances) to spend more than was budgeted. However it is possible for them to spend less if the funds are not available. Let’s make sure the funds are not available.
Once again our elected officials have taken it upon themselves to place the county in a position where taxes must be raised. What with tax increases looming on the national front, the state front, and now the local front – enough is enough.
All of us are affected by the economic cesspool our officials have gotten us into. It’s time to adopt a policy of fiscal responsibility. If you can’t pay for it do without or adopt an alternative course of action. tax payers are not a bottomless pit of money from which the government can continue to dip funds from on a whim.
All government expenditures should be closely scrutinized to ensure that the tax payers are getting the biggest bang for the buck.
you go Wyzer!!!
This doesn’t surprise me in the least! You are right when you say the commissioners would “race to the microphone to deny it” I’m willing to bet Chairman Bannister would knock the rest of them down to do so! I wonder how much the increase in pay Chairman Bannister begged for affects this budget! Registered voters this is our fault! We should have gotten rid of Chairman Bannister when we had the chance! When I telephoned registered voters on behalf of Lorraine Green they were all about keeping Bannister in office, well now they can deal with the money monster they voted into office. I knew Bannister would tell a tale his entire campaign was based on lies. I didn’t vote for him and I tried to inform everyone that the man was not what he appeared to be but his supporters didn’t agree well I guess you got what you wanted, more and more new construction while tons of strip malls are being vacated and left empty without tenants to pay the taxes on these empty buildings, who do you think will pay these unpaid taxes, WE WILL! In one way or another! Chairman Bannister was going to clean up our streets, when will he get started? Chairman Bannister promised to make our streets safer, when will he get started? How about all the programs he intended to start to help the County save money it appears he has forgotten his own campaign promises, how convienant for him. He sent me an email saying “he will try to do better” WHEN! When the next election comes around? Maybe the next time a politician says they can not only save money on taxes but actually do away with property taxes completely such as Lorraine Green promised maybe Bannisters supporters will listen!
What’s going to happen when the next wave of foreclosures and lower equities start’s to lower the amount of tax revenues the county collects? I know the market value on my house has depreciated by close to 20% in the last eighteen months and I still can’t sell it at that price.
Kenerly’s argument that the millage has gone down over the years he’s been commissioner is garbage. It completely ignores the out of control growth and development that leads these bozo’s to thinking they can spend money like the federal government.
The BOD needed to balance the budget PLUS some by making some serious cuts in how Gwinnett does business. This is all a house fo cards that will probably crumbled as the economy continues to tank. What happened to our “fiscal conservative’s” that we thought we elected?
Voters need to start in 2010 with tossing out Nasuti and Kenerly, maybe that will send a message they’ll listen to.
The fact that the BOD doesn’t give a hoot about the citizens of Gwinnett County, just about pleasing their developer friends, has long been obvious. This place has far too many developments and insufficient infrastructure. That’s a blatantly clear sign of selfish priorities and mismanagement. So the fiscal irresponsability and consequent tax hike aren’t surprising.
I own a home in Hawaii, valued at 10 times what my Gwinnett County home is worth. Hawaii has a reputation as being a tax hell, yet the real estate taxes I pay in Hawaii are only 2 times what I pay in Gwinnett. Do the math! I think Hawaii should move over, because Gwinnett deserves the title Tax Hell.
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