Here is a letter from a concerned citizen of Harford County summing up the events since our movement began:
May has been an interesting month in Harford County.
The County Council rejected the budget proposed by the County Executive, reduced property taxes, and discussed a reduction in the property tax assessment cap.
In addition, the Governor signed a bill into law establishing a mostly elected School Board for the County.
All are individually significant. Collectively they are momentous.
The budget proposed by the County Executive, although reduced from previous years, was reduced again, for good reason, by the County Council. Not only was a reduced budget returned to the County Executive, but the property tax rate, on both real and commercial property, to support it was reduced as well. The reduction of 2 cents per hundred dollars of assessed values provides tax relief to taxpayers, and forces more efficiencies and economies in government operations. Placing the burden of the budget on County employees and taxpayers , while seemingly easy, will no longer be the tool to resolve budget issues. Hopefully the County Executive realizes this .
The reduction in the property tax assessment cap from, 9% to 5%, as discussed would be effective in 2011. It appears that the County Executive has signed on to this as well. As his Internet web site claims, he worked with the County Council in the past year to effect this change. It is unlikely however, that he was a full participant. Had he been, he would not have presented the 2010 budge that he did, knowing full well that his principal revenue source will be severely reduced, and that more meaningful reductions will be required in 2011. A full participant would have constructed a 2010 budget to accommodate reduced property tax revenue in 2011.
Contrary to published accounts, the savings in the reduction of the property tax assessment cap, from 9% to 5%, are not trivial. A 9% cap, will cause property taxes to double in 8 years, while a 5% cap will cause property taxes to increase by only 47%. A 5% cap will cause property taxes to double in about 15 years. In this same 15 years, a 9% cap will cause property taxes to increase more than 3.5 times, almost 4 times as much. Quite a difference for any individual or couple starting out or seeking to retire in Harford County.
At the budget hearings, Harford County residents conveyed a message of protest to the County Council on the proposed increase in property taxes required by the 2010 budget. Some invoked political party affiliation, some invoked words from the founders of this great nation, others questioned the employment prospects and the supervisory hierarchy of individual Council members, and the Council as a whole. All speakers were passionate. I have to admit that I was there, too, and was caught up in the process. Throughout these meetings, each member of the Council and the Council as a whole, showed uncommon restraint and civility, to those who offered support, and equally to those who were opposed to their actions. The character of the Council will be judged, not only by the end result, but also by the civility they extended.
The message of the Council on the budget, coupled with the Governor’s signing of the bill to establish an elected school board have an even greater significance to County residents. The message is clear, Harford County government has been returned to its residents. The process of governing is no longer the exclusive domain of the County Executive. The School Board will, now, also answer to the residents of Harford County. Residents of Harford County have been given the opportunity, no, the obligation to participate in the process of government to establish a better future tomorrow. Invoking slogans, political party affiliations, or commenting on employability will no longer work. Just like the Preamble to the Constitution of the United States which begins with “We the people”, Harford County government now starts with we the people.
Finally, by their actions the County Council provided a view of the measure of the person. The measure of the Council members will be taken, not by the level of education they achieved, nor the career path chosen, nor any other outward appearance. It will be taken by their credibility, integrity and loyalty. They have set new standards for measurement. Indeed, a very high standard to strive for, as we the people start down the road to the future.
The County Council has cut the tax rate on residential real property from 1.082 to 1.062 per $100 of assessed value for Fiscal Year 2010. This cut of ~1.8% amounts to a budget cut of about $7M. This is because they saw how angry you were at the Tea Parties and the Rallies held at the Council Chambers!
This is a small victory for us, but it is important to remember that taxes are still increasing this year. Because the taxes that you pay are dependent upon the assessed value of your property AND the tax rate, even when the rate is cut by very small amount, your taxes will still increase. I repeat, your taxes are increasing even though the rate is decreased slightly.
Please recognize the difference between RATE and actual taxes. The County Executive had the option to accept the same revenue as last year, but instead he opted to increase our taxes. While the County Council adopted a lower tax rate, it is still a net tax increase from last year.
We won't let them pass the buck anymore. The assessments are set by the State of MD, but the County sets the rate. No longer will we sit idly by while they increase spending by millions of dollars per year.
There is a bill on the Council agenda (to be voted on July 14!) that will set a lower on the amount that our primary residence taxes can increase. Currently it is 9% per year. The bill calls for this cap to be set 5%. Let's support this, but still call for decreased spending in the County Government!
Last night, approximately 50 people were marching around the County Council building. Then, hundred of concerned citizens crowded into the council chambers and sat through the readings of 193 Amendments to the budget.
The meeting began shortly after 7PM, and was not adjourned until after 12PM. Thank you to all who stayed until the end.
The County Spokesperson had no kind words about what we have accomplished, either. The Aegis reports that Bob Thomas, the County Spokesperson, upon being asked if our rallies have affected the decision to lower the Property Tax Cap, said
---------------------------------------------
“Not in the least,” Thomas said. “We believe that some individuals associated with the TEA Party group are grossly misinformed about spending, the issue of taxes and assessments.”
“Their property tax bill has gone up because of state assessments,” hecontinued. “It’s not the result of action by Harford County government and even though the county may reduce the property tax cap, it does not preclude the state from increasing assessments that would create a higher tax bill for them.Some have totally misunderstood theissue entirely and it is not as simple as they may perceive it to be.”
----------------------------------------------
This comment clearly comes from a frustrated individual. I am not informed. I am just tired of tax and spend, tax and spend. Maybe it will take an election to realize that citizens DO care what they do.
Several people spoke their minds about the budget, and at one point, people became vocal about the long meeting, at which point Boniface had to call for order and threaten being thrown out in order to calm down the attendees.
There was not enough time for the County Council to vote on the issues, and as a result, there is an Emergency meeting scheduled for Thursday night at 7:00 at the Council Chambers. I hope just as many people show up and voice their concern at this meeting!
Below, please find the text of David Craig's Blog post from Friday, May 22nd. Perhaps they are listening in the Executives office? Perhaps they have heard our voices and hundreds of emails. Let's hope this gets approved.
"A Discussion of Property Tax Cap Relief
I have been following all the discussions lately that have focused on County property taxes. I am also aware that many of our citizens have been in some way impacted by the downturn in our national economy, which has brought this issue to the fore front. Some families have had truly tangible, life altering experiences such as loss of a job, a home, or retirement savings.
The concern about ever increasing property assessments is not a new issue to me and other county officials. It is an issue that is and will continue to be addressed in a way that allows Harford County to provide much needed services to our citizens and focus on reducing the amount of hard earned dollars and cents that residents pay for the privilege of living in our great county.
Over a year ago I worked with the county council to develop a phased in reduction of the property tax cap. That agreement started with a reduction of the cap from 10% to 9% which took place this year. The next step is to reduce it from 9% to 5% by the FY11 budget (calendar year 2010). This will put us more into line with surrounding counties and reduce the affect of the increasing state assessments.
Last year we also improved the Home Owner's Property Tax Credit Program by changing the income and asset limits. A new law passed this year will allow us to again improve that program by reducing the age limit from 70 to 65. Since the law does not really take affect until after June, I will be working with the council to pass this legislation in July so we can have it in place for next year.
This plan for a reduction of the property tax cap to 5% provides meaningful tax relief for Harford’s citizens.
Watch the county's website to see when these pieces of legislation will be on the county council's agenda so you can contact your council member.
-- David R. Craig, County Executive"
Our rally went off today without a hitch. There were at least a couple hundred angry citizens in attendance.
I got the feeling that all of these people are angry with not only the local government, but the state and Federal government as well. If this movement catches any traction, I pity Annapolis and Washington.
There were some solid speeches by several people, and lots of cars on Rt. demonstrated their support by honking.
The County Council is voting on this budget a week from Today, on May 26, at 7:00 in the Council building.
That means we only have 7 days to make the Council aware of how we feel. Call early, call often, and email when you have lost your voice. Click this link to see the Council's contact information.
Tell your friends, coworkers, and anybody else that will listen: If you don't tell the Council how you feel, your taxes will increase next year.
Email it to everybody in your contacts list! Make them aware. If you would like an example of an email to send, let me know, at HarfordTaxRevolt@gmail.com.
In the preliminary discussions that led up to planning the Protest on May 19, I was trying to put together the arguments that would be presented by those who support Mr. Craig's budget.
I assumed that some people would overreact and say that I want to release prisoners, hurt kids by cutting the Board of Education budget, and close down all the libraries. Then they would scream that I would contribute to crime in our neighborhoods by cutting the Sheriff's Departmental budget, and then they would call me an idiot. Perhaps they would argue that there is no way that they would let their kids get redistricted so we don't have to pay for 4 new schools out of our own pockets.
Each of these arguments is scary, on its face. However, we need to look past the sensationalism and address these issues individually. In response to my blog posts, people have commented things like, "Patrick wants to release child molestors and keep children from school. What a douche." No kidding. Now, tell me how you really feel.
I, nor those people who agree with me, are calling for releasing convicted prisoners, or hurting our children. Also, we don't want to stop paying taxes altogether. We just want to receive benefits equal to the costs that we have to pay in order to live in our homes and own our businesses. We don't feel that we are being fairly taxed, and we are exercising our rights to change it.
If that means that there will be a paycut, or worse, layoffs for county employees, then so be it. When a local business can't afford to keep staff on the payroll, they release underperforming employees; why should the Harford County Government be any different? Let's be logical when arguing these points. If you do your job well, and your job is necessary for the County to function, you will be safe. Otherwise, perhaps you would do well to look for a new job.
I received this email a couple of minutes ago from a concerned citizen. This explains a lot of the issues that citizens have with Mr. Craig, the County Executive. More information about the Sheriff's Dept can be found here: http://www.daggerpress.com/2009/05/14/a-revolting-turnout-county-fears-budget-protestors-enlists-sheriffs-help/
--------------------------------------------
I hope that the report of Harford County Deputy Sheriffs showing up in uniform at the County Council meeting is an unfounded rumor. Participation in such a manner was and still is used by totalitarian governments around the world to intimidate citizens and stifle free speech. If any resident of Harford County, be he or she a public employee or not, chooses to respectfully exercise their First Amendment right to Free Speech at the County Council meeting, they should have the opportunity to do so without fear of recrimination.
The suggestion that somehow the County Executive reduced the budget and saved 75 million dollars deserves some scrutiny. Savings implies that somehow there was real money available, and it was not spent. It may be closer to reality to state that if the County Executive had 75 million dollars more to spend, the budget would have been much larger. The lack of the 75 million dollars caused the budget reduction, there were no savings. Suggestions that real services will be cut if Property Taxes are cut or the Constant Yield Rate is adopted, is an appeal to fear, and deserves scrutiny as well. The County Executive could well choose to cut projects in Capital Improvements budget, not in the Operations budget. Selective and well thought out cuts in either might not affect real services, and could in fact be beneficial in the long run.
The financial circumstances, and resultant train wreck, for the 2010 budget were established in the 2009, and it will only get worse if the 2010 budget is passed as it is currently constructed. The pay increase for County Employees last year, which may be deserved, resulted in higher operating costs in the 2010 budget. In order to balance the budget for 2010, the County Executive required a 5 day furlough for certain County Employees. The 2010 Capital budget has a significant number of expensive multiyear projects, starting in 2010. If these projects are funded in 2010 they will last for at least two years. With the current economy it is unreasonable to believe that revenues will increase beyond 2010 estimates. The multiyear contracts , higher operating costs, and reduced revenues would leave the County Executive with a choice of greater reductions in the operating budget or terminating contracts. Reductions in the operating budget would result in longer furloughs, or layoffs. Terminating multiyear contracts would result in penalties, which would also impact the operating budget causing furloughs and layoffs.
A reasonable person constructing a budget does so with known revenues. If a windfall occurs and revenues increase they can either be saved use, or spent. The Increase in revenue resulting from increased Property Assessments and the 9 percent tax cap in Harford County are a windfall which the County Executive has chosen to spend, and by so doing has raised property taxes. He could have chosen to return the windfall to the property owners by lowering their taxes. In hard economic times it would be wiser to save windfalls. If there are not real savings this year the financial future of Harford County could be much worse in future years.
These are some of the budget issues that we would like clarified in the budget. If you have any idea about them, feel free to leave me a message in the comments. If anybody wants to post a blog to this website, let me know and I will post it here.
- Huge school board operating budget and increased contribution to the pension fund.
- Break down of the Board of Education expenditures. There is none in the budget.
- Increased cost for housing prisoners. Budget does not indicate any increase from 2009 to 2010 that would reflect State shifting costs.
-Parks and Recreation expenditure on Schucks Road Park. Parks and Recs Master plan indicates expenditures in 2011, not 2010.
-Increase in Parks and Recs employees. There are 5 new maintenance employees.
-Review each department and determine how many other departments have added employees.
We are having a Tea Party because we are upset about David Craig, the Harford County Executive, increasing taxes when everybody else has to tighten their belts. I acknowledge that he has cut $75M from the budget, but there needs to be some responsibility in budget formation. We cannot build 3 or 4 schools and just hope to pay for it in the future!
We need politicians to make the tough decisions. We need them to realize that they work for you, and they work for me.
Join us at the Harford Property Tax Revolt on Tuesday, May 19th, at the County Council offices in Bel Air. We are meeting at the Intersection of 22 and Bond Street, across from PNC Bank. Let's show them that we care about what they do with our money.
|
