I attended a Finance Sub committee meeting this morning with Commissioners Eddie Goodwin, Kenny Goodwin, and Keith Nixon met with County Manager Peter Rascoe and Finance Officer Lisa Jones.  It's agenda was to review the latest Budget figures for FY 2010-11.Projected Expenses exceed Projected Revenues by around $189,000.

Expected revenues are about $445,000 more than this year's budget, and had expenses remained the same as last year we would actually have some breathing room. But projected costs from Emergency Services come to $661,000 where the county had expected to contribute nothing. There are several big ticket items requested: a new ambulance at $117,000 (which seemed to be a surprise to several commissioners) and new cardiac monitors for each ambulance ($175,000 total.) The county owns 8 ambulances.  A question I have is: "Can't you do like I did with my last car and put in a remanufactured engine/transmission?   Does the entire ambulance need to be replaced?"

Most attention focused on EMS, which in addition to 911 emergency service also does routine medical pick up and delivery of folks to various local and distant medical facilities. EMS is supposed to be an Enterprise Fund, meaning it is self supporting financially, but it has not been doing this. Commissioners discussed several options toward making EMS self supporting, including privatizing the non-emergency portion.
The 3 commissioners at this meeting seemed to be in agreement that the EMS Manager should be given "X" amount of funds and then he should determine the priorities of expenditures, rather than the Board micro-managing the EMS budget, and will discuss this with the entire Board at its April 28th meeting. The EMS director will be at that meeting to answer commissioner questions. 

The Board of Commissioners needs to set a policy to address EMS Expenditures or problems like this will recur every year.

The county is building up the Reserve Fund to its required 8% of the General Fund budget, and is now close to $600,000 toward approx $1,000,000 needed.

The Budget envisions county employees will receive 100% of their pay next year, instead of the reduced hours they have been working under the furlough system.  Commissioner K. Goodwin said the Board hoped to keep the employee salaries at 100%, but they could be reduced as necessary to achieve savings.  Going back to the previous year's salary system would save about $150,000.

There was no discussion of property tax increases at this meeting, and I got the impression that the Budget could be balanced without draconian methods required, unlike some surrounding counties that are experiencing a much worse situation because they did not have to really tighten up last year.

(5-14-10  Note:  A budget hearing is scheduled for May 19th.  Commissioners have a recommended budget which was balanced by reducing the Emergency Services request for additional money.  Emergency Services is supposed to be an Enterprise Fund, meaning it is supposed to fund itself with user fees.  EMS has been collecting only 47% of bills it has sent for non-emergency transfers and is therefore running in the red.)

(5-19-10   Note:  A balanced budget has been submitted without need for a tax increase. Primary commissioners supporting this were: Nixon, Winborne, Eddie Goodwin, and Kenny Goodwin.   A motion was passed to contract with a new collection agency for patients of EMS transport/emergency services.  It is hoped this will enable the 2010-11 EMS Enterprise Fund to be profitable.)

 

5-04-2010 

Trouble within EMS. 

 

At last night’s Board of Commissioners meeting it became obvious that there is a split between the paid members of Emergency Services and the volunteers who man Unit #3 in Rocky Hock. 

Response times are greater for Unit 3 than the other EMS units (one is at Chowan Hospital and the other is at Center Hill Crossroads Fire Dept.)  Volunteer responders have to have the same training as the paid EM workers, so they have many evening training events.  Also the volunteers respond from their homes rather than sleep at the station, as the paid workers do (paid workers receive between $37,000 and $40,000 annually.)  So there is a natural rivalry between the two. 

But at the meeting it was apparent there is animosity between the leaders of Unit 3 and the EMS Director.  The Board Chairman commented on this and said it could not be allowed to continue.   There is supposed to be a meeting this morning between the two leaders, to try to iron out a schedule and solve some of the communication problems. 

If I were a county commissioner, I would attend that meeting….not to interfere, but to listen and learn what the real issues and sticking points are between the volunteers and paid staff.  EMS can be a “life and death” matter…commissioners should be aware of all the factors affecting such an important function of county government.  No commissioner indicated he would attend. 

The handwriting is on the wall that EMS would prefer to have ONLY paid workers.  It would be a shame to have the volunteer workers disbanded—both from the monetary savings they provide to the county, and from the citizen participation and community involvement that the EMS volunteers provide—something that distinguishes small communities like ours from big impersonal cities.

 

5-9-2010

Big Picture Economic Trends are Troubling…..

 

In an article in the May 9^th issue of Parade Magazine, Columnist David Gergen listed these facts about federal government growth: 

• Public spending by federal, state, and local government was 24% of the Gross Domestic Product (GDP) in 1950, 35% before the Great Recession, and could hit 44% this year.   

• The Tax Foundation estimates that 60% of all Americans now receive more in income benefits from government than they pay into government, and that with new policy directions, the number will grow closer to 70%.

• The Tax Policy Center has found that while everyone is expected to pay payroll taxes, only 47% of American households now pay federal income taxes.

• The European Union has agreed that it is dangerous for a country to allow its publicly held debt to exceed 60% of its GDP. The Congressional Budget Office says that the U.S. could hit 60% by the end of this year, and on its current course could hit 100% by 2020.

• Meanwhile, The Economist estimates that the federal government now employs a quarter of a million people to write and enforce regulations. 

And, from the February 19^th issue of the online publication the Daily Reckoning: 

Total nonfarm employment is down 4.6% since January 2007, reflecting a decline of 6.27 million jobs. 

Private-sector employment has fallen 5.8% and lost 6.625 million jobs. 

Total government employment climbed 1.6% over the past three years and added 355,000 jobs.  

The Average salary of the Private sector is $40,000 

The Average Salary of the Public Sector is $72,000 

While the Private sector America has been devastated... 

The Public sector America has flourished... 

Some may not view the above as troubling, but I am worried that these trends (if they continue)  will eventually bankrupt this country…leaving our children and grandchildren with a quality of life that is—for the first time ever in America—worse than their ancestors, and decreasing.     

These trends are not likely to change any time soon.  For this reason we need local leaders who are good with financial data and have personally demonstrated success at managing their own finances.  We can’t stop what is going on nationally, but we do have some control over how our local governments act in turbulent times.  Our leaders must prepare Chowan County to ride out any future economic storm we may encounter.   

The storm clouds are gathering … it IS important who you choose to lead us.

 

5-14-10 

Duplication of Local Government Services

One of the things I would like to examine, if I am elected, is how to make sure that Edenton and Chowan County are operating as efficiently as possible—ie. providing the most efficient services possible for each dollar of taxes paid.

 To do this will take inputs and suggestions from everyone.  Here is one example forwarded to me earlier this month.  On one morning a friend observed the Edenton electric meter reader come to his house, and an hour later the Chowan County water meter reader arrived.  Now it is obvious that electricity and water functions are provided by two entities (town and county), but to the taxpayer it doesn’t make much difference which local government is reading the meters…he is paying twice for the same function.

There are doubtless many other duplications of actions that can be addressed…not by the politicians, but by the department heads concerned—if there is a political atmosphere of  “lets be as efficient as we can be” in local government operations, whether town or county.  People who are closest to the task are always able to recognize better ways to do things—they are the best ones to suggest improvements and carry them out—if the politicians do not interfere.

I would like to tackle this task….if you will let me.

 

5-16-2010

County Property Taxes Up 74% in Last 5 Years

 

I have done a little research using the information available on the Tax Department pages of the County's website, and learned that on average property taxes in Edenton (District 3) have increased 74% since 2005.  As well as the recent "unpleasantness" when we learned that the Hospital Fund had disappeared, there was a revaluation of property values in 2006.  When revaluations occur, we are reassured that even though property values have gone up, the tax rate is adjusted downward to compensate so the county will experience "revenue neutral" conditions as far as our taxes are concerned.  But as you can see below, data taken across most neighborhoods in District 3 reveal a major hike in taxes paid by most folks.  If you want to find YOUR property's tax change between 2005 and 2009, click here.

We need to be VERY VERY careful before even considering any new property tax increases, because of the major hikes recently and also because of the poor economy.  Even properties valued at less than $100,000 experienced tax increases of over 5% per year.

I have removed people's names from the following table, but the information is PUBLIC INFORMATION here.  I have also included the county commissioners and county manager's homes...as well as my family's store/apartment downtown.

 

Chowan County Taxes    Comparing 2005 with 2009 

Owner                          Value               Address                                   09 county tax                   05 tax              percent increase 

KS                               995,000           209 E King                               6819                            3915                          74

NC                              643,000           104 W Gale                             4410                            2008                            119

GB                               593,000           303 Queen Anne Dr                 4065                            1529                            165

KD                              478,000           119 W Church                         3281                            1817                            80

CM                              355,000           109 W Church                         2435                            1270                            91

JB                                276,000           301 W Eden                             1895                            1099                            72

PM                              264,000           409 Elliott St                            1816                            448 (2006)                   305

AJ                                243,000           107 Pendleton Trace                1656                            1357(2007)                  22

Robin Sams                   241,000           315 South Broad                      1655                            996                              66

BK                               240,000           111 W Gale                             1649                            877                              88%

TB                               222,000           211 Albania                              1523                            718                              112

NB                               185,000           704 Martin L King                    1265                            1243                            1

RH                               185,000           412 Philips St                           1267                            713                              77

BB                               176,000           402 E Queen                            1204                            957 (2006)                   25

DC                               169,000           306 N Granville                        1159                            594                              95

SC                               165,000           208 S Oakum                           1132                            443                              155

FW                              139,000           301 Coke Ave                         949                              693                              36

WH                              134,000           101 Boswell St                         921                              605                              52

EL                                120,000           100 Valentine Ln                      826                              677                              22

JB                                113,000           310 Coke Ave                         779                              515                              51

CE                               90,500             712 Johnston St                        621                              613                              1

ES                                89,000             408 N Granville                        609                              369                              65

JE                                88,500             115 Jackson St                         607                              503                              20

BA                               88,000             113 Oakdale  Dr                      602                              479                              25

MJ                               80,000             201 Dillard Ave                        548                              520                              5

HP                               74,000             118 Jackson St                         511                              479                              6

MB                              72,000             211 E Hicks                             496                              415                              19

JJ                                 71,000             107 Seashell Lane                    485                              352                              37

JC                                61,000             301 W Carteret                        426                              310                              37

WP                              59,000             136 Tyler Lane                         408                              245                              82

                                                                                                    46,389                      26,534                            74% 

 

 

EG                            373,000           1015 Macedonia                      2557                            1185 (2007)                   115

PR                             358,000           605 Yeopim Rd                        2451                            792 (2007)                   209

KN                            353,000           400  E King                              2764                            1364                            102

KG                            237,000           3333Virginia Rd                       1747                            N/A

RC                            170,000           203 Twiddy Av                        1167                            1236                            -5%

LB                            126,000           101 Chowan Ct                        867                              790                              9

JA                             123,000           106 Hewes St                          846                              514                              64

                                                                                                   13,294                       8397                              58%

 

The average percent increase (using all properties) between 2005 and 2009 was 74%

 

Of 9 properties valued less than $100,000 the average increase between 2005 and 2009 was 28%

 

County Commissioners: 58% average increase—but figures are questionable due to recent construction

 

05-19-2010

My Remarks at the County Budget Hearing May 19

^{“Times are tough.  For the county.   For the people.}

^{I can recall attending the Budget Hearing for 2008 when there were 800 people present and much confusion and rancor.  The fact that no one other than me rose to speak tonight indicates the excellent level of leadership the Board has brought to the county since 2008.  Commissioners have a tough job….they have to see both the Forest and the Trees.  My compliments to the present board, who I believe have done an excellent job in a VERY tough atmosphere.  My special compliments to Keith Nixon, Kenny Goodwin, Emmett Winborne, and Chairman Eddie Goodwin.  I have attended quite a few finance committee meetings, and it is my opinion you are providing the type of leadership we need in these tough economic times.  Also I would like to commend County Manager Rascoe for his work in getting the county from the brink of bankruptcy to the state we are in today…not there yet but improving and on the right course.} 

^{I joked with the commissioners at one finance committee meeting… 'Pat yourselves on the back for doing the right thing because no one else will tell you that.'   A commissioner has to do what is right for the entire county; not just for interest groups that mobilize or are most vocal.    I think you are doing a good job.”}

 

^6-2-2010

Town subsidy of businesses

 

During the past few weeks there have been two articles in the Chowan Herald discussing proposed Town of Edenton initiatives that affect private business.  The first is a proposal to rent slip space at the town dock at a rate lower than comparable private marina slips.  The second proposal is to allow the Chowan Arts Council to use the old police station—at a below market (or possibly zero) rent. 

I believe the town should be VERY careful when subsidizing activities that compete with private businesses.  In effect, the town is asking Edenton Marina, Bayside Marina, and Wharf Landing Marina to subsidize their competition through their town taxes, which will not have to be paid by the town marina.  In the case of the Arts Council the same is being asked of the 3 Sisters Gallery and the Robin Sams Gallery.   

Government should be in the business of encouraging investment and economic growth…not unfairly subsidizing competitors to existing businesses.  It is fine for the town to encourage non-profit agencies and tourist attractions, but when these entities sell items or provide services that compete with local businesses,  they should compete on an even playing field with those businesses that ARE paying property taxes, licenses, and business taxes to Edenton. 

A compromise position in the case of the Chowan Arts Council would be for the town to charge below-market rent for the first few months and then raise the rates to fair-market levels after 3 months.   This would allow the council to easily get established and then compete on a level playing field with other downtown businesses.

 

6-22-2010

County wants Edenton to pay greater portion of 911 service

This week the Chowan Herald and Daily Advance carried a story concerning whether the Town of Edenton should be required to pay more of the costs to operate the 911 Emergency Communications Center.  (see article here)  Chowan County operates the center which dispatches all emergency, police, sheriff, and fire assets when a citizen calls 911. This facility is called a Public Safety Access Point (PSAP) by the state of North Carolina.

Town council members think the present system is working fine, but Chowan County wants Edenton to pay some (exactly how much is not indicated in the news article) of the costs of 911 communications.  The annual cost of operating the PSAP in the coming year is projected to be $563,280. That figure reflects an increase of more than $73,000 from last year. 

Of course the politically expedient thing for a person running for county commissioner in the in town Edenton District 3 is to automatically agree with the town council members who call the move by the county “double taxation.”  This will undoubtedly be popular with the overtaxed folks who live in town (including me.)  But this issue is not simple and I need to do some more study on this before giving you my view.  Some initial questions I need to research: (Note: 7/4/2010  as I learn information I will add it in green after the question, providing the date at the end.)

1.  Why is there a $73,000 increase in operating the PSAP in one year?  That is a 12 percent increase!

    Franklin Jackson, supervisor of the Chowan Communications Center said much of it is because of maintenance contracts (if computers or communications fail the contractor is required to be on site within a matter of hours), state mandated increases in personnel costs for health care and retirement, and new equipment required so all emergency responders in the town and county can communicate with each other.  12 percent in one year seems a little high to me. (7/19)    Note: on 7/27  I learned from County Finance Officer Lisa Jones that the budget for next year is $579,144 a DECREASE from last year's budget of $707,488.   HUH?  I'm checking in to this further.

2.  Is there a written agreement between the town and county covering who provides what into this partnership?  If so, what does it say?

      No.   When the 911 Call Center was first initiated around 1988 the town provided 850 sq ft of space in the old police station and also agreed to pay 25% of the operating expenses.  Around 1999 the town and county agreed that town's 25% payment for operating expenses would  cease.  After the new PSAP became operational in the new Public Safety Center (2007?) the town ceased to provide any in-kind (space, utilities, and maintenance) support. (7/10)

3. County commissioner Eddy Goodwin says 27% of PSAP calls are routed to the Edenton Police Department.  Approximately one third of Chowan residents live in Edenton, so this doesn’t seem too extreme.  A written agreement between the town and county should specify what percentages of calls and responses are to be expected.

 A written agreement needs to be negotiated.  Attached here is the agreement used in Perquimans County. (7/4)

4.  If the Edenton Police Department were eliminated and the Chowan County Sheriff picked up responsibility for law enforcement within Edenton, how many more people would the county be required to hire in the sheriff’s department and would new 911 dispatchers be required? 

Probably no additional personnel would be required.  It turns out that if you call Edenton Police Department's phone number, you will be routed to the 911 center.  Edenton Police Department does not directly dispatch any police assets.  After speaking with Mr. Jackson it appears to me that the central issue is not the number of emergency calls that come in (about 20-25 a day in June) but the number of other communications that go through the center (about 110 a day) including answering the 482-4444 number.  This can be the result of any citizen calling for any reason (ex: power outage, Edenton utility problem after hours, dog running loose or barking, etc.)

5.  If there was a flare up of crime in some unincorporated part of the county—say Arrowhead Beach—and 50% of PSAP calls were being dispatched there, would the county require the citizens who live in Arrowhead Beach to pay a higher proportion of the PSAP operating costs?

    This is a rhetorical question, but seriously what if another town, ie Sandy Point, were established in Chowan, would more 911 employees need to be added?   How would the funding work then?  There are two towns in Perquimans and this is how they do it.   Seems reasonable to me.  What problems do you see with this?  (7/4)   Mr. Jackson objects that Perquimans still uses population, rather than call volume to determine how much should be paid by each local government. (7/19)

6.  Exactly how has the $170,000 (911 tax on our telephone bills) been spent?   Who decided how it would be spent?   Compare the 911 Communications Center budget of 2005 with 2010 and identify what has changed over the last 5 years.

How the 911 tax (collected on your phone bill) is spent is now specified by NC state law and the 911 Supervisor has little discretion.  The 2010 NC  legislative session has drafted new regulations which may allow the 911 Supervisor to better manage his funds.   (7/19)

(7/27) Budget figures for the last five years:    2004-05  $444,766 -- 05-06 $472,837-- 06-07 $593,817 --  07-08  $606,969 ---------08-09  $778,834 -- 2009-10   $707,488    10-11  $579,144    

 

7.  How do surrounding counties handle the question?  What does the UNC School of Government say….have they done an analysis of this issue and how it is handled statewide?

  The UNC SOG has done no such analysis. I also checked with the Association of County Commissioners and they had not done anything either.  The contact person I spoke with there said: "Once you have seen one 911 Call Center, you have seen one 911 Call Center...they all are different."  (7/10)

8.  Commissioner Eddy Goodwin is correct in saying that the county provides only basic services to its citizens and when citizens desire extra government services they can form a town and vote for higher taxes to pay for greater services.  The root question here is:  what is basic service and should town residents should be paying higher fees as a part of having a separate police department. 

It is my assessment that emergency calls are not the issue...the issue is how much of Chowan Central Communications (note the name taken from the County Website--NOT 911 Call Center or Public Safety Access Point) assets should be devoted to Non Emergency communications, and who should pay.  Mr. Jackson believes that Central Communications should answer all types of citizen queries and that funding for the center should be based on call volume....not population...with calls logged under two categories 1) Edenton and 2) the rest of the County.    

The policy question that County Commissioners need to address:   should Central Communications answer all the types of calls it fields now...or just emergency calls?

If the answer is: all calls ....then a second policy question must be answered:  "Should the funding for the center be based on call volume from each local government entity (town or county) or be shared equally among all county residents? "

If the answer is:  emergency calls only....then all other calls should be routed to a town or county office that handles non-emergency communications.  This will likely result in each local government having to hire additional employees.

I think a reasonable course of action would be for County Commissioners to ask Central Communications to log and report its calls/dispatches and provide them in a matrix for the next 6 months (emergency --fire/police/sheriff/rescue/vs non emergency and sub categories) (and town vs county)--whatever format the commissioners believe the data can best reflect where labor is being expended at Central Communications.

 Then sit down with town authorities and hash out a policy based on these facts.

 

7-12-2010

Chowan Arts Council Air Conditioner Broken for over a month

At the July 12th County Commissioner meeting the President and Vice President of the Chowan Arts Council (CAC) spoke during the Public Comment portion of the meeting.  They complained that the air conditioning to their facility (in the basement of the Swain Building, owned by Chowan County) had failed on June 4th and despite numerous complaints and follow ups no action had been taken by county maintenance.  In addition to the heat during the 90+ degree weather, high humidity had caused mold to form in many places, and the council had been forced to remove paintings from the facility.  They asked for immediate repairs to the air conditioning.

The new County Manager, Mr. Parker, reported that the unit would be repaired in two days, which was news to the CAC officers.  Exactly what communications occurred between the CAC and the county and in what time frame was not clear to me. But there was definitely a communications failure all around.

At the end of the meeting Chairman Goodwin expressed his embarrassment that a tenant of a county building would receive such poor service and asked the finance committee to look into some sort of restitution for the CAC.

I think it would also be appropriate for the county manager to provide to the Chairman of the County Commissioners a list of complaints he receives from citizens or groups for issues where he feels the citizens are dissatisfied with county operations/actions.  This could be in a weekly email.  This way the Chairman could ensure appropriate commissioners are notified and can take an interest in issues--before they turn into situations like this one.

 

8-19-2010

Number of County Employees increases by 43% in last Decade

An interesting study by the Civitas Institute compares the growth in public employees at the county level since the year 2000.  Chowan County has grown from 103 to 147 (43%), while the population of the county has grown only 2% and private employment has decreased 12 percent.  Look here for the comparison to surrounding counties.   To give the current Board of Commissioners credit, the number of employees was 174 two years ago. But this is an area that needs further analysis, and if elected I will make it a priority.   County payroll is where most of our budget is spent.

 

8-22-2010

Should you vote to increase the sales tax rate to 8% in November?

 

The following ballot question was adopted for inclusion on the November Ballot by the County Commissioners at their March 2010 meeting:

[ ] For   [ ] Against  Local Sales and Use Tax at the rate of 1/4 percent (.025%) in addition to all other state and local sales and use taxes

The Commissioners did not want to take any action on raising our local sales tax (now at 7.75%) without a referendum of the people.  According to County Manager Parker, such a tax hike would bring in an additional $125,000-$150,000 per year.  There has been no discussion about designating this for a particular purpose, meaning it would go into the General Fund and could be spent however commissioners decide.

According to the John Locke Foundation, our present tax rate of 7.75 % places NC as 8th highest sales tax in the nation. 5.75% goes to Raleigh and 2 % goes to the county.  Of the local 2% portion, half of that is mandated by the state to go for schools and school construction.  So, if voters approve the ballot question, Commissioners will feel encouraged to raise our local sales tax to 8%.

Since 2007, more than two-thirds of the 60 attempts statewide for tax hikes have failed. In 2010, however, six counties have approved them — Duplin, Hertford, New Hanover, Onslow, Randolph, and Wilkes. 

It is my opinion that voters should vote AGAINST the sales tax increase.  Some folks say this is a way to transfer more of county revenues away from property taxes and that sales taxes are more fair since everybody must pay them (this would make more sense if a property tax decrease also accompanied the sales tax hike.)  I would not vote for such an increase unless: 1) commissioners persuasively state why the money is needed, and then 2) designate a dedicated fund that the new revenues would be applied to.  $150,000 is only one percent of the county general fund budget.

In times of recession it is never a good idea to take more money from the financially strapped tax payer and put it into undesignated government spending.  The current near depression will not end until consumers begin to spend more freely again....government spending is not the answer because it distorts the economy with political determinations of what is needed to recover.   Millions of people deciding how to spend their own money will always give a better result than a few politicians who believe they know what is best for everyone else.  Likewise, 15,000 people spending $150,000 in the local economy  will better allow us to climb out of the recession than more county government spending.

The differential between the NC and VA sales tax rate has got to cause some people to shop for big ticket items in Virginia.