From: John Moss – Chairman
Virginia Beach Taxpayer Alliance
9 October 2006
A case for standards of competence for city leadership
Dear Mayor and Members of City Council:
The VBTA Board would like to say the article appearing in the Virginian Pilot excerpted below surprised us, but that is not the case. Ms. Whitesell’s lack of understanding of fiscal policy and ignorance of the basic principles of our constitutional republic is so frequently demonstrated that her comments are usually not worth rebutting, as the public so readily dismisses her remarks as self –preservation bureaucratic speak.
Councilman Dyer is to be commended for raising the issue of using the ending fund balance for tax relief. Councilman Dyer to his credit did not limit tax relief to property tax. Councilman Dyer has got it right. Vice mayor Louis Jones has it wrong. The surplus is the result of excessive taxation.
The mayor’s and vice mayor’s addiction to spending precludes them from recognizing they have a problem – like an alcoholic or drug addict, the first step to getting better is admitting you have a problem.
Following the excerpt below will be an analysis of the reported remarks. VBTA’s analysis is more for the benefit of the larger public than city council as a whole. VBTA has shared rigorous analyses and thoughtful perspectives with city council for the last three years, but a city council majority lead by the mayor has turned a deaf ear to the financial stress of Beach families.
VBTA does want to acknowledge that council members McClannan, Dyer, and DeSteph are sane voices with principles that inoculate them from the tax and spend mentality of the city council majority.
$20 million in surplus money goes up for grabs at Beach
By RICHARD QUINN, The Virginian-Pilot
© October 4, 2006
VIRGINIA BEACH - Let the lobbying begin.
Dyer broached giving the money back to taxpayers. "Would we consider some tax relief?" he said. "It may be prudent since we probably overtaxed them in some way."
City officials say the year-end fund balance is not a result of taxing people too much. Budget officer Catheryn Whitesell said the money came from reduced spending and better-than-forecast revenue.
Jones dismissed Dyer's suggestion, saying the City Council shouldn't use a year-end surplus to offset tax bills. Property-tax relief should be dealt with on a long-term basis, he said.
City Manager and inner leadership perspective:
“City officials say the year-end fund balance is not a result of taxing people too much. Budget officer Catheryn Whitesell said the money came from reduced spending and better-than-forecast revenue.”
Sally and Joe Smith at the kitchen table translation:
City council took my money (taxes) for services. The city was able to deliver the services for less, and now they want to keep my money.
City council took in more taxes then they budgeted for and now they want to keep too much of my money.
At home my income came in less than forecasted and my expenses (read impact of local taxes) came in higher than expected, and I had to get a part time job.
Honey, isn’t the city’s surplus really our money, like savings that should go back to us who earned it?
Sweetheart, one would think so, but when has city council shown any common sense. Good thing we both have second jobs.
Bottom line:
City manager Spore and his inner leadership do not respect how hard you work for your money and they believe they have the first right and highest priority for your money. Mayor Oberndorf and Vice Mayor Jones are complicit partners working against Beach families’ personal standards of living.
Vice Mayor Jones disingenuous and unsubstantiated remarks:
“Jones dismissed Dyer's suggestion, saying the City Council shouldn't use a year-end surplus to offset tax bills. Property-tax relief should be dealt with on a long-term basis, he said.”
Sally and Joe Smith at the kitchen table translation:
Honey, didn’t our house payment go up $100 this year due to increased property taxes.
Yes, and our house insurance went up $20 a month. On top of that our employers cut back on benefits and increased our contribution to health insurance.
Yeah we had to cut our expenses to create savings to pay our increased monthly house payment.
Sweetheart, if not for our second jobs we would be over the edge versus just on the edge. Well, this article said the surplus [$20 million] was due to savings and increased revenues so it is not just a one-time surplus right? Councilman Dyer is right – the excess taxes should be returned to families.
No joke, and I read the other day that next year the city reported it is expecting $35 million more in property taxes than they planned for. City council is worse than any teenager in spending money they don’t earn.
Can you believe this vice mayor Jones guy? Last April when the budget was being adopted, vice mayor Jones was against a significant long-term reduction in the real estate tax rate.
Honey, two-faced politicians aren’t new. They play on the fact that people are too busy to hold them accountable for their inconsistent remarks. You know something is wrong when a council member proposing tax relief is the odd man out with his peers.
Maybe, but what is really wrong sweetheart, is that we don’t fight back. Lookup Councilman Dyer’s number, we need to tell him to keep up the good work.
Honey, I found it; Bob Dyer’s number is 226-4745. I also found the number for Reba McClanan (340-8835) and Bill DeSteph (431-8597). They are the other two on council with common sense.
Bottom line:
City council has an insatiable appetite for taxing and spending, and it doesn’t matter to them how it affects the quality of life of your family’s needs. Families are viewed as a commodity to be harvested for revenues to satisfy their hunger pains.
VBTA suspects this letter will not find favor with many members of city council who repeatedly demonstrate their willingness to impose increasing taxes and fees that punish Beach families and stifle private sector job growth.
Beach families do not find favor with reductions in their personal living standards they have had to make to pay unwarranted real estate taxes. Beach families do not find favor with the mayor’s failed leadership in the adoption of this year’s budget when she admitted in effect to her inability to advocate tax relief for struggling Beach families. Instead the mayor voted to increase the real estate tax rate nineteen percent (19%).
Beach families do want to confront city council with the spoken words of city staff and council members; spoken words that are an affront to how hard Beach families have to struggle to make ends meet under the heavy yoke of excessive local taxation.
VBTA and Beach families strongly encourage council members McClannan, Dyer, and DeSteph to speak up in defense of families keeping more of what they earn. We request this common-sense trio continue challenging the sophomoric rhetoric of your peers who advance higher taxes and big-spending government.
The courtesy of a reply is requested and anticipated. VBTA in sharing this communication with our extensive distribution network fulfills its mission to provide Virginia Beach families an advocate for their prosperity and liberties.
Copies:
Alexandria Taxpayer United
Americans for Prosperity
Americans for Tax Reform
Arlington Taxpayer Alliance
Cato Institute
Clare Boothe Luce Institute
Competitive Enterprise Institute
Fairfax Taxpayer Alliance
Family Foundation
Heritage Foundation
NAACP
National Federation of Independence Business
National Taxpayer Union
State Policy Network
Sutherland Institute
Tidewater Libertarian Party
Virginia Beach Council of Civic Organizations
Virginia Beach Democratic Party
Virginia Beach General Assembly members
Virginia Beach Republican Party
Virginia Beach Restaurant Association
Virginia Beach Taxpayer Alliance board members
Virginia Club for Growth
Virginia Institute of Public Policy
Virginia News Source
Virginians Over Taxed on Residences
Virginian-Pilot
60 Plus Association
Media outlets