Municipal Musings from Ward III

By Alderman Mike Ferguson

 

One of the things I believe to be a part of my job as an elected official is communicating with those I serve.  While being an Alderman in Grandview, Missouri is very local and involves a small constituency compared to the representative duties those in the State Legislature and Congress face, the principle remains the same: those in office have a responsibility to communicate with the citizens of their community.

Communication is a two-way process. It is my job to not just tell you where I stand and why but to also listen to feedback, suggestions and complaints from the people who live in Grandview. I hope this article serves as part of my fulfilling that responsibility.

What follows are my thoughts on many of the decisions we will be making at City Hall this Tuesday, August 25^th at the Board of Aldermen meeting.

We will hold a public hearing on the proposed Fiscal Year 2010 budget – copies of the budget are available at City Hall. I encourage you to check it out, ask questions and be there on Tuesday to tell us what you think.

I believe our staff has done a good job of presenting a balanced budget. Shortly after I was elected earlier this year, the Board made it clear that we do not want any deficit spending even though times are tough due to the ongoing recession. I believe that the government at all levels should cut spending first, deepest and most often in times of economic difficulty. Government operates at the financial expense of taxpayers and when government’s needs conflict with people’s needs, government should tighten its budgetary belt first.

That is what we have done. I still have some frustrations with the budget right now but I do not believe that our staff could have done much – if anything – differently right now. Being fiscally responsible now is critical because next year is shaping up to be even more difficult financially for the City (and most other local governments).

We will adopt a final budget early next month. The proposed budget for Grandview in Fiscal Year 2010 is $31,065,586.

Among the ordinances on the agenda that we will be considering are increases in building permit fees. These are what City Hall charges for permits to build anything from permanent sheds to carports to new houses and business buildings. The charges are designed to cover the cost of various inspections.

Grandview’s building permit fees are well below those of surrounding communities and do not cover the city’s costs right now. The proposed fees, if enacted, will put ours basically in line with those charged by our neighboring towns. When this was discussed during a recent work session, I made it clear that I want the fees to be as low as they reasonably can be because anything we charge adds to the cost of home improvement and the cost of doing business in Grandview.

I do not want city fees to be a deterrent for people to improve their homes or for business development. Having fees that are too high will do just that. Having fees in the median range that cover most of City Hall’s expenses as they relate to mandatory safety inspections generally do not deter economic growth.

As long as the City is mandated to conduct inspections, someone has to pay for it and I think the fair thing to do is concentrate as much of the cost to those using the inspection process and as little to the taxpayers who have nothing to inspect as possible. You should not have to pay for the plan review and inspection of your neighbor’s new garage. I will be voting in favor of the new building permit fees.

I’ve often heard that The View, our Community Center, is one of the “crown jewels” of the City. I agree – it is a wonderful structure and an excellent amenity for all of us. I and my children are members and use the fitness center, pool and other areas often. If you haven’t joined or checked it out lately I encourage you to consider it.

I’ve lost 20 pounds over the past three months by taking advantage of The View’s fitness center.

The Board of Aldermen is being asked to approve an increase in the membership fees. To me, this is a matter of “user pays” and there is nothing wrong with that.

The View is funded from two basic sources: user fees and sales taxes.

The 2010 budget for The View is roughly $2.2 million. Just over half of that ($1.125 million) comes from the sales tax designated for the community center. That leaves just under half of the costs being covered by those who use the facilities. This revenue comes from membership fees, payments for classes and room rental fees.

While I understand that this is a typical financial setup for public community centers, I want to see that funding balance shift away from tax dollars and toward user fees. Voters approved the sales tax to subsidize The View but sales tax revenue can be unreliable from year to year. The View is a wonderful facility that is staffed with competent and dedicated professionals; it is also a luxury, not a necessity.

Over the next several years, I hope we can gradually increase the percentage of The View’s costs that is covered by user fees. By default, that will mean less of the cost covered by taxes. That is both a matter of fairness to the taxpayer and, I believe, a sound fiscal position to take. User fees are better and fairer than taxpayer subsidies. The View provides a great value to members and we who use it (like I said, I work out there often and my children love the pool area) should be the ones paying for it.

I will be voting in favor of the increased membership fees. While I don’t like raising my own bill, I think it is better that I – as a member – be expected to pay for what I use more than those who pay sales taxes (and might never step foot into the building or a shelter house).

We will also be voting on a property tax increase. Two weeks ago the Board of Aldermen held a public hearing on the proposed increase and, unfortunately, no one from the public showed up to provide input.

Our City budget is being stretched tremendously right now. As I said earlier, our administrative staff has done a good job of balancing the proposed budget and has cut, delayed and frozen a number of expenses to accomplish this.

One of the reasons municipalities and school districts are raising the ad valorem property taxes is because revenue from property taxes – both real and personal – have decreased over the past year.

Many governments are using phrases like “the tax rates are being adjusted” because of the lower assessments. I have also been told that, because property values have gone down so much, raising the property tax rate will still result in many property owners still paying less in actual dollars than in years past. The argument is that, since the actual dollar-for-dollar bill did not go up, this is not a tax increase.

Hardly.

Raising the tax rate is a tax increase. Period. Unless every elected official contractually obliges himself or herself to lowering the tax rate (or mills) when property values increase again, this is a tax increase. Especially at a time when people are losing jobs and many are taking cuts in hours and/or pay, raising taxes adds to the cost of living when people are already struggling to keep up.

No matter how small the tax increase, I cannot and will not vote for it. I understand that our city government needs the money but so do the people who live here. Individually, each tax increase is usually small but that does not matter to me. Keep in mind that other rates are going up as well.

Sewer rates will increase in order to pay for the replacement of old lines that are deteriorating. Water rates (which are not controlled by City Hall) are going up because of increases in the wholesale cost of water forced on the Water District. That is all before you consider the increasing price of basic goods like food and gasoline.

Together, all the increases affect our cost of living to a degree that we feel financially.

My guess is that I will lose the vote and I will likely lose it by a vote of 5-to-1. Property taxes are probably going to go up in Grandview but I will not be part of the reason for that.

There are a number of other items we will be discussing and voting on at Tuesday’s Board of Aldermen meeting. If you have any questions about any of these or want to encourage me to vote a specific way, please contact me. I would love to hear from you.

One event that will take place this coming Thursday is a Town Hall meeting being jointly hosted by the International House of Prayer (IHOP), the Grandview Area Chamber of Commerce and the Birchwood Association.

As IHOP moves into more buildings in town and makes progress on its plans to build a world headquarters campus on the southeast corner of 71 Highway and Blue Ridge, I am getting more questions about this organization and how it will change Grandview.

IHOP’s Director, Mike Bickle, along with other leaders from the organization will answer questions from the public about who they are, what they believe and what they plan to do in Grandview.

The meeting will take place this Thursday (August 27^th) at Grandview High School. It starts at 7:00pm. I am not going to be part of the panel (I am not a member of IHOP) but will be in attendance at the forum. I encourage you to attend as well.

Don’t forget to visit the City’s website: www.grandview.org. Grandview also has a Twitter account - http://twitter.com/CityofGrandview. Be sure to add us to the Tweets you follow!

I also encourage you to come out to our Aldermen meetings whenever possible. We work for you, so check in on the hired help from time to time!

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