It's that time of year again - farmers markets are hopping, graduation plans are being made, the hum of lawn mowers is everywhere, displays of sunblock are plentiful, and..... oh, yes. This is the season when staff and elected officials decide how to spend what they collect.
This year's Morrisville budget is a far cry from last year's 19% tax increase fiasco. For the fiscal year beginning July 1st, staff has recommended cuts in spending and postponement of capital projects. They have submitted a budget that keeps our Morrisville tax rate steady at .3665. Good news, right? This year, yes. The following years.... not so much.
Your 'Tis Blogger acknowledges this is a tough economy. Really tough. Revenue is down. But years of double digit, year-over-year spending increases figure into the big picture as well. Beginning next fiscal year, if any new big ticket spending is approved, our taxes will go up on July 1, 2010. And even with no new capital spending, ie, road improvements or addition of open space, taxes will go up the following year. And the one after that. And the one after that. And the one after that. And the one.... seeing a pattern here? If this budget and LRFP are approved, by FY 2015 and with no new capital spending, our tax rate will balloon from .3665 to .4686 (Note to keeper of the ARRA stimulus money: please send fire station funds.)
At a time when the state has cut teacher pay and will likely axe funding for programs like special olympics and eliminate thousands of state jobs, it's understood that additional cuts locally will be painful. But the town needs to dig deeper than 8.5% this year if we are to thrive during the next five. (NOTE: Since staff raises are not a part of this year's budget, council should consider a policy offering 16 hours/year of comp time.)
Woulda, shoulda, coulda set aside more money for road improvements during times of plenty. Didn't. And can't undo that now. But we can learn from the mistakes of the past dozen years, and start today managing better our taxpayer's money. It's common sense, not rocket science. We need to save more of it this year or face the consequences of yearly tax increases from 2011 forward.
Have an opinion? Contact our Morrisville Town Council: TownCouncil@ci.morrisville.nc.us
Sounds like M'ville needs to follow the lead of other area government agencies and do some more serious spending reductions. My guess is that M'ville is continuing to grow the size of government like they have over the past 6-8 years and that simply cannot continue.
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