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CITY BEAT
By George Murin
January 25, 2008
Washington- Ben Franklin once said, “In this world nothing is certain but death and taxes.” This week I found that statement to be all too true. City residents face a major tax increase on property and the city fire department is dealing with the death of retired fireman Harry “Paul” Maust. Maust is the third retired fireman to die in the last month; Louis West and Wade “Squeak” McDowell past away a few days before Christmas. All three were fine men and will be greatly missed.
A tax increase is not a surprise, as many citizens of Washington knew that since the city is on the verge of bankruptcy something had to be done. But this tax increase of 30 mils on land is extremely large, nearly 15% of the current budget. In the last 10 years the city raised taxes twice, according to Councilwoman Virginia Ullom, and they were for 3 mils each and the city government should have raised taxes before this to keep up with expenses. She stated, “Everything cost more…it’s scary to think where we’re heading.” Mayor Sonny Spossey made the statement that “difficult decisions are going have to be made”, but many residents of the city told me that council took the easy way out. Many of these same residents are angry. I am writing this on January 23rd for the 25th’s paper. On Thursday evening, the 24th there will have been a council meeting to announce the first reading on the tax increase. I will report on this meeting next week. It will be interesting to see if any citizens show up to complain. Small businesses in the city will suffer most from this. One restaurant owner said he is thinking of selling but “who would buy my business?” Another complains that his taxes on his parking lot are more expensive than the taxes on his building.
What is disturbing about this tax increase is that the money is not going to be spent to restore the city’s vital departments to full staffing but will be used just to make up the budget shortages and provide a slush fund for future expenses. The Police department is down three officers, the Fire Department is down one fireman, the Street Department is short five men and the Treasurer’s office has three less employees than in past years. City hall has no plans to replace these positions according to Councilman Thomas Blackhurst, although he has stated “I would like to fill them, but council cannot seem to reach a consensus on hiring.” The money the city is spending on overtime in the fire department would easily cover the cost of hiring.
What makes things worse is that there are rumors floating around city hall that the council is considering hiring other people instead of replacing these vital workers. One hiring that will take place on the 24th is the rehiring of Michael Behrens as the zoning officer, this is the third time the city has hired him for this position. This impending hiring has left some in the city questioning why? Didn’t the city fire department take over all the zoning and inspections to save money? Other possible hiring in the future is for a health officer to inspect the city restaurants. The state does these inspections now in the city.
I think the city needs to prioritize there responsibilities and since they have raised taxes provide the services that its residents expect. As ex- councilman Jack Manning once said, “The city is in the business to provide essential services, all the other stuff shouldn’t detract from this.” Jack is a very smart man.
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