Position Paper

Vernon Taxpayers Association

Position Statement

The Vernon Taxpayers Association advocates for good government and value for the tax dollar. We realize that in initiating and promoting a change in government we have not taken the politics out of government, but rather what we have achieved is a clear line of accountability so the public will know who is responsible for government’s actions. The person responsible will be an elected mayor—not the hired manager, not the council, and not the administrator. All concerns, whether about property taxes, road conditions, parks and recreation, should be directed to the mayor, who is responsible for the overall condition of the municipality.

Government is founded upon Integrity and Trust. Without these two, a government is not representative of the people. Integrity and trust are garnered by the simple premise that elected officials tell the truth. We simply ask for truth in statements and in actions of our government representatives. We ask also for a government that values the monies entrusted to it by the taxpayers. 

The new government is starting on July 1, 2011 with a clean slate, but our position statement addresses a number of inherited problems that need attention. We have studied the finances and organizational structure of municipal government for six years and submit the following platform of ideas for action. The theme throughout this platform is the dysfunction of prior municipal governments and the ideas expressed herein are probably the tip of the problems with the operational values of municipal government.

Core Services

Given that the amount of property taxes the residential tax base can pay is finite. We need to define who uses those municipal services (voters, property taxpayers, residents, and tourists are the stakeholders) and then prioritize spending. By prioritizing spending to the core services used by the majority of stakeholders, we can maximize value of the tax dollar. The intent should be to adequately fund those services used by the residential property taxpayers. Those services used intermittently by tourists should be assessed to determine if we could recoup costs. Services that do not serve a majority of the stakeholders should be funded with any residual funds left in the budget, if at all.

The annual Budget must include 20% funding for the 5-year capital improvement budget.

In the past there has been no monies put into the capital improvement budget, which has been funded through bonding and debt.

Shared services with the Board of Education and the County should also be used to maximize the value of the tax dollar.

Personnel

Township employees should be compensated fairly for the work they do, but should have annual performance assessments. Currently the township does not know if the compensation is average or above average for  municipal positions, nor does the township have specific job descriptions and performance criteria for each employee. We suggest the township use the civil service title job descriptions available from the Department of Personnel. The compensation for municipal employees should be compared to other towns in the area. We need to hold employees and consultants responsible and accountable for their actions. If employees or consultants recommend, initiate, or fail to take actions that cost the township monies over $50,000, they should be held accountable up to and including termination.

Example

A former manager entered into a contract with a vendor without the council’s knowledge or approval. The contract resulted in the loss of $360,000. to the township. The Manager received a 3.5% raise and was not held accountable.

Example

Under the Council-Manager form of government the township has been operating under for the past 14 years, the Manager would oversee the daily operations and was responsible for making decisions when the council is not in session. In the new government, the Mayor makes the decisions and the responsibilities of the business administrator are limited. Therefore, less responsibly should equate to significantly less pay for the position of business administrator.

Example

In 2008, the manager laid off two part-time workers at the Animal Shelter, resulting in a savings of less than $20,000. The animal control personnel service taxpayers, which we would define as a Core Service. It became apparent that other than the “window dressing” layoffs, the manager had no insightful budget plans. Consequently, that council and manager raised property taxes 28% in three years, which is unacceptable. Hired consultants (grant consultant $50,000, etc.), executed contracts ($360,000 loss to Ameripay), deferred pension payments (at an additional $940,000 cost to taxpayers), and other spending policies resulted in an increase of millions of dollars in taxpayer funds that were irresponsibly spent. All this leads the observer to the proposition that she had no idea how to plan a budget and the Council at the time was just as unprofessional. The new Mayor and Council should rehire the two animal control employees that the manager fired merely to assuage the anger of her tax increases.

Transparency in Government

Given that municipal government is founded on Integrity and Trust the new government has to be dynamic in its transparency. We are now in the Internet age and suggest that we use it to shatter the opaqueness of prior councils. Simple ideas such as when an item is not resolved at a meeting should be tracked so the public knows the resolution. Adopt conflict of interest rules that are more specific than state regulations. Grants should be tracked on the website so the public knows if we have spent the monies. Various boards should have inter-board meetings so that common concerns and interests can be discussed and resolved. All work sessions and Saturday meetings should be open to the public. All proposed ordinances should be discussed in work session meetings first, and there should be clear procedures on how ordinances will be introduced. Council agendas and all information for those meetings must be given to the council 3 days prior to the meeting. There should be no last-minute changes to the agenda as was customary in recent years and throughout the past ten months.

Annual Report

Many municipalities produce printed annual reports that are available to all taxpayers. We suggest that such a report be put on the website. It should include a description of the various departments along with contact names and number, functions, etc. The report should list all employee names, job titles, and base salaries (current and previous year) by department. The report should also include how tax monies were spent and what the future financial plans of the town are. Any ongoing projects are summarized and future projects are outlined so the public has a sense of town planning. All of this information and more is put in plain English so taxpayers can understands were their monies went.

 

Town Center Redevelopment Zone

Currently we have spent $13 million on the Town Center and have guaranteed payment of another $13 million. Yet we still do not have a plan for the Town Center that encompasses past actions and future actions needed to bring it to conclusion. Most towns have a site on their web page detailing planning/construction phases with maps and graphs. In Vernon, we have a vague memory of what was originally promised and where we are in the completion of this center. After $26 million in costs, we need to finally conceive a plan that encompasses all aspects of this center. Appropriate outside consultants (planner, financial, legal) to give the town a history of and process to complete this center. Other than the expenditure for those consultants, we the public should not pay one more dime for this center. Part of the review of the process should include were the Township stands with the state in the Town Center Designation approval, as it is now known that designation approval has expired. Discussion of Payment In Lieu of Taxes (PILOTS) should include the provision that they must be put before the voters in a referendum. PILOTS should also be restricted to commercial properties only, not residential. This will ensure there will be no negative impact on residential property values outside the redevelopment areas as a result of low tax areas in the town center.

Referendum Items

Our position is that any increase in town debt greater than $500,000, either singularly or cumulative in the annual years, should be put before the voters. All PILOTS should be put before the voters.

                                                            Conclusion

We have not touched on many topics that the council will be addressing this year. Instead we trust and rely on the integrity of the incoming Mayor and Council to resolve these topics beneficially for the taxpayer.  Municipal Utilities Authority, Municipal Debt, Kelly Bill monies, working with the county so Vernon receives its share tax monies paid to the County are our priorities. We entrust to the Mayor and Council our hopes that after a long struggle we the public will be better served by our public servants.