It's that time again and yet it seems like just last Fall! I bet most of you haven't even noticed--not yet, anyway! A few smatterings of election signs have been popping up around the community. This year is a little slow to start given the fact that there are no major state or national elections to bring folks to the polls. Interestingly enough, it is the local decisions that have just as great an impact on your day to day life. Local elected officials decide the following:
*Property Tax Rates
*Schools, Road Maintenance, Police & Fire
*Trash and Recycling
*Car Tax/Fees
*Stormwater Fees
*Parks and Recreation-parks, trails, sidewalks, etc.
*Local Zoning--Not In My Backyard Issues
The list goes on and on...So, the moral of the story is that it is VERY important to take this time of year seriously and really make sure you know what the candidates REALLY stand for. Investigate how they stand on various issues...ASK THEM-READ THE NEWSPAPER, ATTEND THE CHAMBER HOSTED DEBATE, ETC...
All of the incumbents voting records are available online for you to review. Just because a candidate talks a certain way, has a sign that you like, runs in the same groups you do or looks a certain way, doesn't mean that they vote or represent you the way you would like.
PAY ATTENTION! This is a very easy thing to do and it could mean NEW JOBS, NEW BUSINESS, LOWER TAXES, BETTER ROADS depending on your vision for our community. If you need help finding any of this information or would like to talk further about local issues affecting our town/area, please feel free to post a question, email me or call...
**As stated before this information can be found on the Town of Kernersville's website--www.toknc.com which has recently been re-vamped to be user-friendly. The site looks great and is easy to navigate! Other county and communities info can also usually be found on their corresponding websites--**
Showing posts with label taxes. Show all posts
Showing posts with label taxes. Show all posts
Monday, September 14, 2009
Monday, March 16, 2009
Budgeting in a tough economy...
Ok, we're all doing it everyday...looking at and readjusting our personal and company budgets to meet tough economic times. As I said in yesterday's blog, I spent one of my days last week listening to department head presentations for the Town of Kernersville. Our town manager, Curtis Swisher did a great job of prepping each department for tough times, not that they aren't painfully aware already. Most of our departments were making cuts to their budget and trying to save the town money long before it was en vogue.
Ok, back on track...the meeting...every request for the most part was lean and mean but that doesn't mean that each department will get everything or anything that they want. With tax values increasing, folks on a shoestring as it is and no cuts in existing services projected, that leaves raising taxes in order to provide for these items, programs and positions, unless they are subsidized by a grant as some of the Police department's requests are.
So the opposite of raising taxes is cutting taxes, something that I have been a proponent of for years. A couple of ways to do this would be to cut back on the intensity of some of our services such as brush, white good and bulk trash pick up...we run three or more trucks by some residences in one day to provide these services. This service could be curtailed to once per quarter or once in the Spring and in the Fall like our neighbors in Winston do. We could still provide year-round drop off for those items needing immediate attention.
Something else suggested by another board member is to look at privatizing the way we handle payroll. There was a request for a new staff person in Finance to alleviate some of the obvious burden on the staff in this department. Even though outside payroll servcing was looked at several years ago, it may be, as one alderman put it, a great time to re-visit the idea, given the economy and the growth of the town staff. An additional suggestion was to go to a monthly pay period for some, not all, departments.
We could also look at privatizing some of programming with Parks and Recreation if the program is not "break-even" or profitable...I will say that I was impressed that the current director, Ernie Page, understands that a mega-recreation center is not something that Kernersville can sustain and he seems to be working very hard to make sure that any future facility built would be utilized appropriately without unnecessary burden to the taxpayers.
I am sure that there are various other ways to cut back, re-configure our services and the way they are delivered so as to not have to raise taxes and to hopefully start our town on a plan to cut taxes as the commercial and industrial base continues to grow. These discussions are just the beginning of a long process leading up to the approved budget in June...So if you have any ideas that you would like to share regarding this issue, I invite you to comment or to send me an email at bcashion@toknc.com
Have a wonderful rainy Monday!
Brooke
Ok, back on track...the meeting...every request for the most part was lean and mean but that doesn't mean that each department will get everything or anything that they want. With tax values increasing, folks on a shoestring as it is and no cuts in existing services projected, that leaves raising taxes in order to provide for these items, programs and positions, unless they are subsidized by a grant as some of the Police department's requests are.
So the opposite of raising taxes is cutting taxes, something that I have been a proponent of for years. A couple of ways to do this would be to cut back on the intensity of some of our services such as brush, white good and bulk trash pick up...we run three or more trucks by some residences in one day to provide these services. This service could be curtailed to once per quarter or once in the Spring and in the Fall like our neighbors in Winston do. We could still provide year-round drop off for those items needing immediate attention.
Something else suggested by another board member is to look at privatizing the way we handle payroll. There was a request for a new staff person in Finance to alleviate some of the obvious burden on the staff in this department. Even though outside payroll servcing was looked at several years ago, it may be, as one alderman put it, a great time to re-visit the idea, given the economy and the growth of the town staff. An additional suggestion was to go to a monthly pay period for some, not all, departments.
We could also look at privatizing some of programming with Parks and Recreation if the program is not "break-even" or profitable...I will say that I was impressed that the current director, Ernie Page, understands that a mega-recreation center is not something that Kernersville can sustain and he seems to be working very hard to make sure that any future facility built would be utilized appropriately without unnecessary burden to the taxpayers.
I am sure that there are various other ways to cut back, re-configure our services and the way they are delivered so as to not have to raise taxes and to hopefully start our town on a plan to cut taxes as the commercial and industrial base continues to grow. These discussions are just the beginning of a long process leading up to the approved budget in June...So if you have any ideas that you would like to share regarding this issue, I invite you to comment or to send me an email at bcashion@toknc.com
Have a wonderful rainy Monday!
Brooke
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