Small Turnout For Fiscal Sanity
I thought I had the perfect lede lined up for an article that tied into yesterday’s Meck Dec anniversary. It was going to compare the original patriots who told a king to take a flying leap to the mass of concerned citizens who showed up at Thursday night’s public hearing to protest the county manager’s recommended tax hike budget. But compared to the usual horde of folks present to ask for more government largess, only 10 people showed up to protest the county’s looming tax increase.
Big ups to all 10 of them for speaking out and making the effort to be heard; here are some of the comments they shared with commissioners, listed in the order they appeared, and in some cases transcribed nearly verbatim:
Lawrence Shaheen, who asked commissioners to consider what kind of negative impact a tax increase would have on the community: “When you take a look at exactly what you’re going to be spending, it’s going to be almost $40 million taken out of this county’s economy; $40 million taken out of small businesses pockets and $40 million taken out of an economy that is currently still very fragile.”
“With increased prices of commodities and the increased price of living, it is almost criminal to ask for individuals in this time to spend more than what they have.”
Ann Marie Lloyd, a 23-year resident of Mecklenburg County: “I have a dream. Somewhere there is a magical switch that turns all of the commissioners into fiscally responsible people. I would like to find it.”
“I am tired of throwing money at CMS. I want our schools to be successful, but I also want them to be accountable with the money that they get.” She used the district’s Bright Beginnings pre-k program as an example. “CMS doesn’t have testing data that shows the lasting value of this program. National data is not there either, but yet we thrown millions of dollars at it.”
“Harry Jones wants to give raises to county workers. No, no and no. We are all in this recession and most private businesses have not given out raises. I think I should not have to adjust my budget to pay higher taxes so county workers can get a raise. Harry Jones wants my tax dollars to cover the cost increase of insurance coverage for county workers. Well you know what? Every year my husband’s company increases our cost for medical coverage and they don’t absorb it like the county wants to. County workers should be paying more for their coverage like we do, over $300 a month.”
“What is a luxury and what is an inconvenience? Reducing hours for our libraries is just an inconvenience. My cable was a luxury that I now do without.”
“We would have a surplus of money if we would do something about a big problem: illegals in our schools and in our county. We shouldn’t have to go to Puerto Rico to find bilingual police. Entering the U.S. legally means you should have to learn the language. Have the schools report illegals to the police.”
“I am part of the 57 percent that will pay higher taxes if you foolishly pass this budget. Do you see how congested our roads are? People have moved out of the county, but still work in Mecklenburg County. Soon you won’t have that 57 percent.”
Bob Deaton, a 74-year-old native of Mecklenburg County who faces the possibility of losing his home because of a staggering tax increase: “The revaluation that hit us back earlier this year was sizeable – a 64 percent increase, for me; there were a few that got 150 and 200 percent.”
“I’m asking you to think a little bit about it. I have been living at this location since 1973. I did not build this house as an investment, to sell and reap benefits off of. I built this house to live in and die in. What you’re doing with this revaluation, you’re saying to me, ‘you’re going to have to cough up another four thousand or so dollars or you’re going to have to get out.’ Is that what you want to do?”
“And I’m not by myself. There are an awful lot of people in north Mecklenburg who have been hit hard with this revaluation. There are people near me that are living on property that their families have lived on for years, since the Civil War. And some of them are looking at 150 percent increase in the value. How are they going to do it? So I’m standing here saying to you that I would like to suggest that with the economic times we have right now that you back up and say what our budget was last year is where we’re going to be this year.”
William Sykes, a resident of north Mecklenburg who highlighted the inequalities of the revaluation and the results it produced: “A lot of people in north Mecklenburg are not represented by the Peninsula area, which by their own admission the tax assessors office stated their revaluation of north Mecklenburg, and south Mecklenburg to a great extent, on the land values around the lake and the view that goes with it.”
“The point is, a government is about equality; the United States is about equality, but there is no equality in this proportionate of the revaluation. The north got hit hard; the south got hit, the swath in the middle got devalued.”
“The fact is the middle of the county has been adversely effected also because their values have been lowered. So if they wanted to move, sell, or otherwise dispose of their property, they wouldn’t be able to because the value isn’t there. So we’ve been overvalued and they’ve been undervalued.’
“Somehow or another, this has to be equalized. I ask you to take this back before the assessors office, and I’ll go with you if you’d like, and we’ll argue for equality for everyone.”
Dennis Peterson, a member of the Navy Reserve who asked commissioners to reconsider a massive tax increase when most residents were still struggling from the recession: “I represent the forgotten man in Mecklenburg County, us taxpayers that fund county government. Beyond paying my taxes, and like a lot of my fellow citizens, we volunteer within the community, within our schools.”
“Personally, I volunteered for Junior Achievement teaching in our schools. My wife has proctored E.O.G. exams just this week. We have helped chaperone field trips; we are members of the PTA. We constantly are asked and we give money and supplies for teachers in the classroom, for the music programs and the athletic programs, because we care for our children. I am also a member of the Navy Reserve and served our country overseas during times of war. I also volunteer with the Employers for the Guard and Reserve, trying to help guardsmen and reservists in our community.”
“Everyone knows times are tough right now, and I understand the pressures that you are dealing with. My own family feels the pinch. I feel for teachers that are facing displacement. I feel it because I have friends and family members that have been displaced. A lot of friends are worried right now, as we speak, as we hear about future, pending displacements at Wells Fargo and Wachovia.”
“My wife has been displaced for the last three years. She works in the construction industry. And unlike a lot of people, she wasn’t eligible for unemployment benefits because she was an independent contractor. But she only makes up one person. We have over 10 percent of the county that are currently unemployed. I understand that teachers and a lot of the county employees have had their pay frozen for the last several years. But I would hazard to guess that the majority of the businesses around the county have the same issue, and frankly a lot of employees are thankful to have a job and are getting a payment.”
“Your budget that’s before you, 185,000 households are going to get a cut in their pay as you raise their property taxes. Please, I ask you to vote against this budget.”
Jay Privette: “For the tenth year in a row the John Locke Foundation has ranked the Charlotte-Mecklenburg area the highest taxed region North Carolina, and some claim it is the highest taxed region in the southeast. Before asking the taxpayers for more money, I would like to ask where is the money going.”
“I believe our high taxes are connected with the fact that our region has an unemployment rate which is persistently higher than that of North Carolina, and North Carolina has an unemployment rate higher than that of the United States.”
“The relationship is easy to explain. What businesses both large and small need most in order to succeed are customers with money in their pockets. And quite frankly, government cannot give money to somebody without first taking it from somebody else. Considering the little efficiency that government has in your spending, as evidenced by the fact that you are taxing us more but we’re getting less and less from it, I think the consumers are much better able to spend their own money than government is.”
“Even if zero revenue growth is your intent, residential property taxes will have to increase substantially. That’s because commercial real estate values in this county, from shopping malls to manufacturing, have plummeted despite the proclamations of what a great area Mecklenburg is to do business.”
“More taxes taken from our pockets will likely result in a downward spiral from which Charlotte-Mecklenburg will find it difficult, if not impossible to reverse, as Detroit did. Only a few decades ago Detroit was one of the wealthiest metropolitan areas in the United States, until their high tax structure resulted in a mass exodus of both customers and businesses.”
Mara Browder: “With all due respect to the county manager, Mr. Jones, I don’t see a sun emerging from the darkness of the great recession. Instead I see a setting sun on Mecklenburg County. And this is why.”
“The sun is setting on families who have lost their income due to the great recession, and with unemployment in Mecklenburg County hovering around 10 percent have no hope of finding employment. Some of these families live in my district, District 6, and they will be negatively impacted by this tax increase. Also the sun is setting on small businesses that are struggling to make payroll and pay expenses, and will soon have to shutter their doors.”
“And while the sun is setting on this once great city, the county commissioners and county manager have no regard for the taxpayer, but to continue to spend their hard-earned money on wants, not needs, all the while ignoring the death toll ringing loudly, signaling the end of prosperity for Charlotte. If we continue down this path of tax-and-spend, instead of cut-and-grow, we will never return this city to the once vibrant, humming economy that it once was.”
Mike Love: “There are many compelling reasons that we can point to as to why we should not have any tax increases in this budget. One reason is that the private sector is still in the throes of a recession, even in our county. The Employment Security Commission shows our unemployment rate at an unbelievable 10 percent. The fact is we have fewer working citizens in Mecklenburg County now, quit a lot fewer, than we did this time last year. I think it’s just plain wrong that we ask fewer workers in the ranks of the unemployed to pay more in taxes.”
“The second reason is that many of us who are still working have seen dramatic reductions in our personal incomes. The phrase we in sales most commonly hear is that our customers just aren’t buying as much as they used to, and our friends in the real estate and construction industries have seen their incomes, in a lot of instances, just go away. So I don’t think it’s fair in a time of decreasing household incomes to ask us to pay more in taxes.”
“And lastly we have to be conscious of our standing versus competing and neighboring counties, as now more than ever businesses as well as individuals locate to the most tax-friendly communities. We can look to the current tax-and-fee burden that Mecklenburg County citizens pay versus that of Wake and Union counties. A recent study of the combined cost of city and county government in North Carolina shows that the annual cost of government for Mecklenburg taxpayers is a full 21 percent higher than that of Wake County and 24 percent higher than that of Union County. Maybe this helps explain their lower unemployment rates, as well.”
“Mecklenburg taxpayers, in fact, already pay the most in taxes and fees of any county in North Carolina and have for the past two years, and hence I think it would be unwise to contribute further to this standing. I could just hear now a city and county lobbyist in other counties around the state pointing out to relocating businesses that if you move to Mecklenburg County you’ll be able to say, ‘we’re Number One when it comes to the cost of government.’”
George Young (a former Matthews commissioner): “You have a very difficult decision coming to you, issues with CMS, library closures, effects to the social programs of the county. We have just dealt with a significant recession that was on the brink of a depression.”
“Some of my issues, though, with our budget have to due with the allocations that have gone on for years – the libraries, as an example. Most of the libraries they’ve been talking about closing are not within Charlotte. They also talked about two that were referred to as being in fragile areas, but were in Charlotte. I’m not sure if the city of Charlotte is going to be putting money in to save those. You also have the issue with parks. Quite a lot of the funding over the years has been Charlotte-centric. Bill Brawley told me specifically about some of the issues with that. He’s currently a state representative.”
“CMS – a lot of the allocation of capital in CMS’ budget has been building schools or renovating schools within the city limits of Charlotte, while the growing suburbs were shortchanged, oftentimes dramatically.”
“The net effect of this is that over the last 20 years the city of Charlotte has basically not raised their taxes because the county raised it on their behalf. Money was taken out of the suburbs and shoved into the city of Charlotte on capital projects and they also were hiding some operational expenses.
“This has set up a terrible strategic and structural budget issue. That being said, I want to say that the issues before us are very grave. I agree with some of the recommendations of the county manager. CMS is a crucial issue. We need to try and protect that. I do believe in the idea of revenue neutral, even though it will raise my tax bill. There was an individual who spoke eloquently about practically being shoved out of his own house because of tax increases. That is not my case; my case is maybe $200, his is in the thousands.”
“I learned as an elected official to have compassion for the other people, even if I don’t agree with that opinion. There are three at-large commissioners; please represent all of the county, be it Davidson, Matthews, Mint Hill, or Wilkinson Boulevard. I also would not support any idea of a revenue-negative. That would result in some terrible cuts.”
Larry Bracket: “Budgets are all about misplaced priorities. That’s why we spread them out on the village green – transparency, every line item. Today the national budget is $15 trillion; Nine-Eleven, there was no national debt. In 10 years the government has bankrupted the 300 million people in this country over Middle East wars. Government is the cancer on the body of society.”
“Based on revaluation all of the real estate in Mecklenburg County is not worth $100 billion. The national debt is 150 times a hundred billion. The revenue base is income; it is not the real estate valuation. Income is derived from the 450,000 jobs in Mecklenburg County. The median income in the private sector is $20 an hour. The median income in government is $35 an hour.”
“Four hundred and fifty thousand jobs minus 100,000 of low income who pay no tax and 50,000 who are unemployed, that leaves you 300,000 wage-earners. You do not have a revenue base to sustain a government that is paid a median wage of $35 an hour, plus $10 in benefits. Twelve million dollars in raises for 4,000 county employees amounts to $300 a month increase on top of a $35 hour wage plus $10 benefits – a misplaced priority.”
“A $40 million proposed increase for CMS on top of a budget that stands at $1.3 billion for 130,000 students – that’s $10,000 per student, per year – to fund a payroll of 20,000 employees. Peter Gorman pays a bus driver $30 an hour. Balance that against Bright Beginnings. The Siemens Corporation, new to Mecklenburg in partners with Duke Energy, pays an engineer $30 an hour. We have a misplaced priority.”
“The budget is the business of the people and that business is to be spread on the table, every line item, on the front page of the Observer, for all the world to see.”
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