Town Council Fails to Trim Budget, Favors Borrowing

By DORIE SOUTHERN
Cape Charles Wave

May 3, 2013

Last week Cape Charles Town Council instructed Town Manager Heather Arcos and Treasurer Kim Coates to sharpen their pencils and come back this week with a proposed budget that would not increase taxes.

The marching orders were to cut 2 percent from staff budgets across the board.

But at last night’s budget work session, Treasurer Coates presented only two options: 1) raise taxes to fund a higher budget, or 2) keep taxes at last year’s level but borrow money to make up the difference.

Given those choices, Council tentatively agreed to a budget exceeding the “equalized rate” by $77,844.

Town staff did make some cuts to reach even that figure, most significantly scrapping a proposed 1 percent cost of living allowance increase. Originally, Town staff had recommended a 3 percent COLA.

Additional savings are proposed to come from eliminating Town contributions to most community-funded activities, including the Tall Ships Festival, the Birding and Wildlife Festival, the Shore Soccer League, Star Transport, and the new Cape Charles by the Bay tourism website.

Left in the budget was $10,000 for July 4th fireworks.

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Because last night’s meeting was only a work session, no formal vote was taken. Instead, Council members simply expressed their opinion.

Council members Mike Sullivan, Tom Godwin, Joan Natali, and Mayor Dora Sullivan favored borrowing money to avoid raising taxes.

Council members Chris Bannon and Steve Bennett said they could support both borrowing money and raising taxes.

Councilman Frank Wendell did not like either option. Borrowing money to keep from raising taxes was “disingenuous,” he argued.

Wendell said he would not even agree to a budget equal to last year’s –- instead, he wanted to see the budget cut.

A painless way to save money, Wendell proposed, would be to take advantage of the retirement in June of Town Planner Tom Bonadeo. Wendell suggested that Code Enforcer Jeb Brady assume the town planner duties, which would save enough to balance the budget without a tax increase.

But Council members Chris Bannon, Joan Natalie, Steve Bennett, and Tom Godwin did not favor the idea.

Godwin said that a town planner was needed to gain rapport with other towns and politicians in the state. He added that Town Council should not “put a stranglehold on the Town staff.”

“If we fail to plan, then we plan to fail,” Godwin emphasized.

However, Mayor Dora Sullivan noted that according to the Virginia Municipal League, a town planner is not required for towns with a population below 2,600. The latest census shows the Cape Charles population at 1,009, but Mayor Sullivan said that if part-timers are included, the population is closer to 2,600.

Even though the majority of Council members said they opposed a tax increase, the Town will advertise a proposed tax rate 7.5 percent higher than last year’s effective rate. That equates to just under 29 cents per hundred dollars of property value.

State law requires two weeks of advertising, after which the Town must hold a public hearing. By law, the Town cannot institute a tax rate higher than advertised.

The public hearing is set for June 6. Councilman Wendell argued that Council should take time to reflect on comments made at the public hearing before voting on the budget.

Councilman Bennett agreed, providing that Town residents actually showed up to speak at the public hearing.

The new budget takes effect July 1, so Council has some time left to make a final determination.

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Comments

One Response to “Town Council Fails to Trim Budget, Favors Borrowing”

  1. Melvin W. Williams, Jr. CWO, USCG (Ret) on May 8th, 2013 11:29 am

    Raising taxes and raising hoops? Oh how absurd can one get? How can anyone with little to no income pay an increase in taxes — and who will this most greatly affect? Surely not the newcomers (outsiders who have the money) who now make up the town’s government, plus those few Cape Charles citizens whose families have run the town since the days of the town’s railroad and ferries. If there’s a failure to pay your taxes, you lose your property — and who buys your lost property? The ones with the money. Then that property becomes a venture investment for future development.

    Members of the town council should totally focus on providing education and employment to the townspeople. If I have a good home and pay my taxes, some could go towards getting those hoops. Many minority home/property owners stand to lose a lot, so hold on to your home and property(s).