Keeping your taxes low and exercising spending restraint
I recently had the opportunity to write a response to a constituent who asked about property taxes and exercising fiscal restraint in government. I was happy to offer this reply:
I want our property taxes to be as low as we can get them.
As you probably know, we lowered the rate 12 cents last year, and I have voted for the lowering of tax rates whenever possible. In addition to lowering the rate, we offer large discounts to qualifying seniors and the disabled, which can be no payment at all. For those who barely qualify, they still get a discounted rate of 10% off and their property tax assessment is frozen forever. I don’t know if you are a senior citizen, but if you are you should contact the Commissioner of the Revenue for more information and personal assistance.
The last few years I know assessments have gone through the roof. However, this year the average of all assessment increases was 1.4%, minimizing any increases in taxes.
And, just as citizens must make tough spending decisions when times are tight, the government has to do the same:
- We reduced the city’s workforce by 50 jobs and placed a hiring freeze on some positions.
- We took each of the individual mosquito commissions and consolidated them into one. And, through greater efficiencies in mosquito control (which includes having trained mosquito experts who find and eliminate the larvae), we have been able to reduce its funding from real estate taxes from 2-cents per 100 dollars to 1-cent. This is a reduction that I proposed years ago and have worked diligently on to see passed.
- We eliminated individual department “reserve” funds. The city has reserve funds that can be used if a department has an emergency. Individual departments did not need their own.
- We have made city services more efficient by incorporating more technology in some areas. This allows these services to be provided with few employees but with no degradation of quality.
- We also refused to put a tax on cell phones, even though neighboring cities had done so. Unfortunately, Richmond recently imposed taxes on all communication which goes straight to the state.
As you can tell, it’s not for lack of effort by the Chesapeake City Council to keep your taxes low.
Personally, when it comes to generating revenue for the government to pay for necessary services, my preference is a user-fee over a tax because you know specifically what your money is going to rather than the money just going into the “black hole” of the general fund.
I appreciate your contacting me and permitting me the opportunity to explain some of the things I have done to exercise fiscal discipline. Often elected officials don’t have the opportunity to explain the details as to why they make a decision, but those details make all the difference in what your representative does and how they vote.
Whatever the decision on council, I am working hard for smaller government and lower taxes.