Hello,
I was asked recently to elaborate on what I would hope to accomplish in the first 90 days in office if elected. One item in particular was the high tax rates we deal with. That, in truth may not be something that can be changed in 90 days. If elected I would not take office until Jan '08 and the budget for that year will already be approved so the first years budget I would be involved with is the '09 year. It also would not be slated for work until after the first 90 days as the budget process starts in April/May.
When the work begins on that budget, I intend to push to have every item of it is scrutinized and evaluated and compared to cost incurred by other towns.
The current cap set by the current town council was put at 83.6cents per 100/dollar value then subtracting out the credits to get the amount we pay. I see no reason not to lower the rate rather than keeping levels at the cap that was set, which is what the town has done since the big increase a couple of years ago. (info from the county treasurer)
The sewer rate bonds need to be evaluated to be more in line with common practice and that should help reduce the rates we pay, which are as much 4 times what other districts are paying.
I do see some things that can be done easily and quickly. I have discussed them in past posts but will list them again.
1) Ask for a new ordinance requiring that an application for a building permit must also be accompanied by a letter from the HOA or architechural Committee, if one or both exist, in the neighborhood, stating that the home or changes meet covenant requirements.
2) That developers likewise obtain a written statement from the School Board involved stating that they can handle the expected student body increases or if they can not handle it, then what changes they propose to support the growth.
3) Develop a set of requirements that, in detail, explain what the town is looking for in commercial development of properties with in the town so that the applicant will be able to provide all required information the first time rather than making them go back and get more data to bring before the council.
4) Require town contracts to be bid on more extensively rather than stating that "this new bid of multiple thousands of dollars in an extension of a previous contract"
The current council has been awarding contracts with out bidding to the same companies over and over again. MD Wessler and United Water have rather large ongoing contracts that I fell are to large.
We are going to need to work on crime watch in all areas of Cumberland as well. I understand we have an officer interested in this type of work and it should be encouraged and all associations should also be invited and encouraged to join in. We also need to look at adding officers. We have 2 on duty at any given time, but I feel that with out neighborhood help, no number would be enough to cover everything.