Why work when others will give you something for free?

So in difficult economic times, why are folks still willing to ask their government for a handout?  The Taxpayer knows human nature.  Humans have a natural tendency to try to live off another's hard work and property.  Some folks are able to control it and they by default are the providers. Those that cannot will use every means to take without work other's property. Today, we see clear examples from this week's Chesterfield Observer of how the "smart" lazy ones do it through the government.

Concerned citizens are organizing in an attempt to influence the supervisors. Many are using petitions, Web sites, e-mails, letters and phone calls to get their message out.

Especially in tough times, it is shameful for these folks to continue to go to the trough of our local government looking for handouts.  The Taxpayer has a message for you.  If you have a valuable service or commodity, it will succeed in the free market. 

Some that get it include the Department of Parks and Recreation as shown here in this week's Midlothian Exchange.

“Our hope is that, with the help of community and non-profit organizations, some of these programs can become self-sufficient or reinstate some of the programs.”

An example.  Folks seemed to be concerned about softball. A fine sport.  Fun to play. Fun to watch. Let's look to a privatized model whereby the county leases the field to a management company who runs the program.  The private sector grows.  The public government shrinks.  The service is provided to those that want it.

Yet the government official is always willing to respond to sloth...

Snead explained that there has been a 56 percent increase in demand over the past five years for services such as Medicaid, SNAP and Temporary Assistance for Needy Families, known as TANF.

56% increase in free stuff.  Who'd thunk? The Taxpayer is surprise at such a slow rate of increase.  Most folks are not dumb. They understand how to expend the minimum amount of effort to survive.

Meanwhile, staff over at the CCPS continue to collect awards and accolades...

"Dr. Marcus Newsome is the clear choice to serve as Region 1 Superintendent of the Year. His impeccable integrity and dynamic leadership has made Chesterfield Schools a national model for high performing districts,"

"Dr. Newsome has led the transformation of Chesterfield County Public Schools by developing the action plans necessary to connect the school system's mission and vision with the improvements required in each individual school. In addition, he has accepted the challenges of these difficult economic circumstances and has exhibited great leadership,"

The only question The Taxpayer is left with is "How much did that cost us?"

The highest paid employee in the county is Superintendent Marcus Newsome at $248,667 including car allowance ($12,500) and deferred compensation ($28,500).

Who was second place?  What was his/her results? AND how much would we have saved?

School Budget should be closer to $500M, not $600M

So should our school budget be closer to $500M instead of last year's $623M? 

The Taxpayer has some evidence to suggest that by looking at some tables in the back of this year's annual budget.

We indexed the number of students, teachers, schools, total budget, student teacher ratio, and cost per pupil back to the year 2000 (so for 2000 everything equaled 1.0 as a baseline). 

Remember how nice it was in 2000? Only the fear of Y2k and everything was still peaceful in the world.  The Taxpayer would argue we had a pretty good school system back then too. 

Well what happened??  Students grew by 15%. The number of schools grew by 12%. The number of teachers grew by 23% causing the student teacher ratio to shrink by 7%.  The Chesterfield County Public School budget??  Well take a look for yourself:

For those that don't like silly graphs.  The budget grew by 81% and the cost per pupil grew by 57%.  Adjusting for annual inflation over time, we see that the dollar has 29% less buying power than in 2000. 

The bottomline calculation is that if we just kept pace with inflation and student growth, The Taxpayer would have seen a stable, sustainable budget of about $500M for FY2009 and no belt tightening required.  Instead the discussion is "oh it hurts to get to $575M!!".  We had about $123,000,000 worth of bloat in 2009 alone.  I bet if our school system were funded today at $500M, we would be in a stronger position with our commerical and residential development AND the results of key student performance indicators would have been similar. Instead, we have wasted a decade.

The Taxpayer encourages you to speak out at the upcoming Board of Supervisor meeting at 6PM on Wednesday March 24th.  Many will arrive with their hand out.  Tell them to keep walking and that we need to tighten our local government's finances.

The Taxpayer Thought of the Day:  What would happen if Chesterfield County twittered every expenditure online for the public to see. Just saying...

Three whistles before the graveyard swallows us whole

Our fearless "leaders" continue to whistle past the graveyard related to their past and future budget decisions.

Whistle #1: Robbing the Virginia Retirement System to avoid painful cuts

Virginia is taking away more than $620 million that would have been paid toward state employee and teacher pensions, but the state is leaving an IOU.

“The relief provided by the lowering of retirement system contributions provides a short-term solution to the continued ravaging of public services,“

And those counting on these supposed retirement guarantees?  (It is as close as you get to an early grave...)

At the end of June, the state employee plan was funded at 84 percent but declined to below 62 percent in 2013, based on current rates. The teacher plan stood at 76 percent last year but declined about 59 percent in 2013.

Whistle #2: Using a 9.7% revenue growth rate for the second year of the state biennial budget.

Unfortunately, projections are not nearly as restrained in the second year of the biennium, with the House banking on nearly 8.5% revenue growth and the Senate anticipating 9.7% growth. Did you get that? I'll say it again -- we are projecting that Virginia's tax revenues will grow by almost 10% in the second year of the biennium.

Really?  Wow!  Remind me to buy some stocks!! What this really means is there will be more cutting and bleeding to do next year at the state level when the double dip part of the recession hits again or all those optional ARM foreclosures happen next year.  Real smart work folks. A+

Whistle #3: Using federal stimulus in FY10 and one time savings in FY11 to prop up the bloated school operating budget.

Local funding for schools, which makes up about half the budget, will dip by 1.7 percent with the inclusion of the $12 million in prior year savings. Without it, the reduction would be closer to 7 percent.

“Chesterfield [also] got $19.5 million of federal stimulus money out of the state’s total of $365 million. Chesterfield chose to spend it on operating expenses this year.”

The Taxpayer notices a disturbing trend.  The County prefers to put off tough decisions; instead of creating a stable, sustainable budget platform to deliver only the essential county services necessary in a prolonged recession.  The County should be growing the private sector by shrinking the size and scope of the local government until it is actually smaller than it needs to be.

Well, we could end up like California counties and schools in short order if we don't force our "leaders" to get their act together.

A quick, unscientific look around the Golden State suggests that California's collective deficit may be double the state government's $20 billion budget gap. San Francisco must trim $522 million from its budget. San Jose's upcoming balance sheet is $116.2 million in the red. The Los Angeles Unified School District is staring at a $640 million shortfall.

But... it can't happen here.  We can (and will) save the tough decisions for somebody else next year (or later) as the graveyard swallows us whole like a giant boa eating its prey.  We will pay double for these mistakes.

Durfee and Jaeckle fight bloated and mismanaged public schools

The Chesterfield Observer had these nuggets this week...

Citing concerns about the cost of debt service, Matoaca Supervisor Marleen Durfee and Bermuda Supervisor Dorothy Jaeckle last week cautioned against some items in the capital improvements plan (CIP) for Chesterfield County Public Schools (CCPS).

It looks like TWO Taxpayer Hero Awards are in order...

Durfee continued to focus on whether additional classroom space is needed when overcrowding can be remedied by redistricting. While Robious Middle is over capacity, there are vacant seats in adjacent districts at Providence and Midlothian middle schools.

Durfee hits it on the head

“We should not only consider deferring some projects but not having some projects,”

They went on to list the poor choices

• $13 M to Midlothian High with new gym, larger band room, and more office space
• $5.8M to Watkins Elementary 150 more seats, office renovations, and a new bus loop
• $9 M Clover Hill High HVAC replacement project

Remember that old Clover Hill is closing?  Nice!

“Is fixing [the HVAC at Clover Hill] and having the school sit empty for a year a wise use of [taxpayers’] money?” asked Durfee.

The Taxpayer has already covered the expensive technology plan; but, it is nice to see that these two supervisors ask the tough questions... They must know The Taxpayer

The supervisors also questioned whether the school system should spend $12.3 million on new technology upgrades over the next five years, asking whether CCPS can afford to keep up in today’s economic times.

Unfortunately, it appears the bloaters were hard at work.  First up Wyman.

“We have to maintain our competitiveness in technology... perhaps at the expense of something else.”

Then Rajah

“We’re stripping our kids of the opportunity to improve their horizons.  That’s going down a dangerous road…if kids fall behind in technology.”

The Taxpayer knows plenty of kids that can dance technological circles around their grown-up counterparts without spending $12.3M that should be returned to the private sector.  We know technology is fine; when there are jobs in the private sector to use them in.  Look at this fancy quote from Sunny Reed, VP of Friends of the CC Public Libraries.

“There are a lot of kids who don’t own computers and use the computers at the library to work on school projects. If you limit the amount of time the libraries are open, you limit students’ access to computers and other resources. That creates an uneven playing field,”

A noble organization with a noble cause; however, how many kids do you see playing games on those library computers?  So now they cannot PLAY GAMES on Thursdays.  Time are tough in Chesterfield.  Keep those scissors at the ready.

It really isn't a $1,200,000,000 Chesterfield County Budget

From this week's Chesterfield Observer...

Expenditures (excluding schools) for FY11 for county services are projected to be $1,526 per person. “On par, we’re back to the 1996 level,” said County Administrator Jay Stegmaier.

But add schools in... $2,500 more per person that the government spends on The Taxpayer's behalf. 

Multiple times nearly 300,000 people and you wind up with $1,200,000,000.  (But it is just $1,526 per person.  No need to look behind the curtain. )

UPDATE: The Taxpayer did some digging.  In 1996, there were 244,800 citizens in Chesterfield x $1,526 per person.  Yields a $373M budget. Today there are 307,594 citizens.  Those extra 62,794 follows allow Chesterfield to "justify" spending an extra $95.8M on "providing services".  The Taxpayer just thought you would like to know the story behind the numbers.  That is $95.8M more than 1996 or as the bloater-in-chief would say "On par".


Board Chairman Dan Gecker of Bloat...

“There have also been significant reductions in capital improvements that the public doesn’t see,” 

So what!! We are all tightening our belts.  He is certainly not speaking about the reduction of The Taxpayer's own capital improvements that have to be put on hold. 

We can assure the chairman that we see what it means to our own finances around the kitchen table.  To think The Taxpayer doesn't understand the economic conditions in their own house is typically of bloat-centric public officials.  They should be ashamed for taking even $1 more in these tough times and they should be apologizing for not cutting more.  What a refreshing perspective that would be!!

Marshall Trammell gets the question all wrong...

“The question is: What level of service will be acceptable to the public?”

The correct question is "How much can we afford?" or "What is a wanted service versus a needed service?"  or "What can we return to The Taxpayer in these tough times?"

Chesterfield leads in keeping citizens in the dark...

According to today's RTD, Chesterfield County government is not transparent according to a recent reviews by the Thomas Jefferson Institute for Public Policy ...

With a score of 15, Chesterfield was 105th on the list.

Out of 134 localities in Virginia, Chesterfield still believes that "we know best" and you should "let us spend $4,000 per person on your behalf".

Here is the message from The Taxpayer... CHESTERFIELD!! Put your budgets and expeditures online. YOU WORK FOR US.

The Director of Public Affairs decided to take issue with the title of the report.

Don Kappel, Chesterfield's director of public affairs, said the report's name -- "Government Transparency in Virginia" -- is slightly misleading.

The Taxpayer would encourage the Director to put the county's checkbook online and recommends that if he decides to spin try this...
"But on the bright side, Chesterfield is tops on the Government Opaqueness scale recently ranked by the Karl Marx Institute for Public Policy.  With a score of 85, Chesterfield ranked 29th."

Newsome / Stegmaier propose postponing tough decisions, continue shell game

From this morning's RTD....

Local funding for schools, which makes up about half the budget, will dip by 1.7 percent with the inclusion of the $12 million in prior year savings. Without it, the reduction would be closer to 7 percent.

The county plans to partially offset a $35.4 million revenue shortfall from the current year by returning $12 million in prior-year savings to the school system.

The budget man tells you all you need to know...

"It's important to note that the 2.1 percent reduction would have been higher had it not been for the use of those one-time revenues,"

Why are these pro-bloated government folks given a pass? First, they use federal "stimulus" dollars to support an unsustainable budget.  Now, they are using another one time budget fix.  These folks simple do not have long term forecasts in their vocabulary.  If it doesn't get fixed this year, the bloat lives on...

And The Taxpayer will be there to fight it....

Virtual Classrooms flourish while your Chesterfield school falls down

The Taxpayer is foaming at the mouth with this latest story from the RTD

In January, the School Board adopted a $12.3 million, five-year technology plan, which includes $3 million for the mobile-technology pilot program. A committee of administrators and teachers is looking at using cell phones, iPod Touches and netbooks to start a pilot program in the classroom.  

So, of course this would be eliminated in the new budget, because we can't afford to maintain our existing schools, correct? Oh no... First up School Board Chairman of Bloat Wyman:

"To say that we won't need these type of technologies in order for these kids to be competitive I think is not correct,"

Next up Bloat Member Rajah

Schools would move down a dangerous road if students are not given an opportunity to learn with the emerging technology. "We have to get our kids ready," he said.

So a school roof and HVAC system is not important?  I know we can pretend we study in virtual classrooms made on our shiny new computers.  Those classrooms would be WAAAY cooler than the stinky classrooms we have today.  I know why don't we create virtual classrooms and outsource our teachers to India. 

Bangalore-based TutorVista, which provides online tutoring to students in about 12 countries, appears to have created a revolution of sorts in the business. It is providing unlimited online tutoring for just $100 per month.


"Americans are getting good-quality, personalized tutoring for their children at a daily cost that amounts to less than what they would spend on a cup of Starbucks coffee," said Krishnan Ganesh, founder and chief executive officer of TutorVista.

But of course there is opposition to affordable education...who could it be?

But there is some opposition to outsourcing education from sections in the US. Teachers' unions, for instance, are opposed to jobs going overseas. They are lobbying for legislation that would make it more difficult for overseas tutors to receive No Child Left Behind funds. There are also questions about the quality of teaching, the impersonal nature of online tutoring, and so on.

So when are we closing some schools and encouraging non-monopolized, free market education? When are we going to innovate away from the K through 12 factory mentality with our children's education? Would it have happened already if not for the entrenched special interests?  Shouldn't our children be the smartest in the world because of the system that their parents select to meet their needs; instead of one being handed to them by the special interests?  Why are there so many laws, rules, taxes, regulations regarding education?  Who is the government protecting, the system with their special interests or the children? 

Let's face it, education is a big business in Chesterfield county.  The business end does not care about your child, it only cares about its growth and self-preservation.  Your child's education would look completely different if it were the other way around.  Instead, we have the 1925 model that only socialism loves.

Leadership from New Jersey...

Here is what The Taxpayer needs to hear from its local, state and federal representatives in Chesterfield County.

We are adults. 

Leadership sets the example. 

Time to show courage and resolve.

Incomplete... Reject it!

WRIC has this to say about the School Board meeting last night...

Newsome originally proposed that administrators take a four percent decrease in pay and all other employees take a three percent pay cut. In his revised proposal, Newsome suggested administrators take a three percent cut, with other employees taking a two percent decrease.

So where does that money come from?

All capital improvement projects will be deferred and maintenance funds will be cut.

The Taxpayer can understand new construction being deferred; but, maintenance? 

It seems to us that the long term view seems to be foreign to our school administrators.  As a professor of taxes, we are looking for a 10 year sustainable vision, not a year by year approach.  When a student offers a 1 page term paper, the professor has to reject it as incomplete.  The Board of Supervisors should do the same to the School Board.

Robbing Virginia's Retirement Funds to put off tough decisions

From today's Chesterfield Observer and here...

One of the school board’s last remaining hopes for a budget bailout was dashed 

So now the bloat has to deflate??  Not so fast according to BOS Art Warren...

“There are still options available to us.”

Huh? Or this quote from Dorothy Jaeckle...

“If we had a revenue neutral tax rate all along, I could support revenue neutral."

What does that mean? Obviously the hole in the bucket has a fix and The Taxpayer hopes it isn't The Taxpayer's heiney.  The CO reminds us that the property tax is only 45% of the revenue stream.

We interrupt this program for some bad bloat karoake sung by:
Tenor School Board Chairman David Wyman:

“Obviously, I’m disappointed that they didn’t consider the tax rate increase,”
“I remain uncomfortable about what kind of funding we’re going to get from the state,”
“It’s been a rough couple of months."
"We have tried to work through the issues to help people understand the difficult straights we are in."

Bass Vice-Chairman Marshall Trammell

“It means we’re going back to our second list of cuts and potentially look at some additional things as well"
“They are already taking a hit, and we don’t want to add to that,”

Alto  BOS Marleen Durfee

“The state has not stepped up to the plate and done its job,”

That sound of fingernails on the chalkboard... Yes... we have a bad case of Chesterfield Idol.

The Taxpayer needs something soothing... Jaeckle recovers nicely with a tune about fighting the bloat

“more scrutiny of expenses.” CCPS has “too many people and programs” and should be “giving back responsibilities to parents and students…We’ll come away stronger for it,”

Jim Holland hits the chorus in perfect pitch

“reductions are difficult to make…but we can maintain our core services.”

Art Warren takes us to the bridge and drives it home...

“We have to be realistic about what the future might bring…Families are cutting back, [so] this is the time to take a deep breath and become more fiscally responsible.”

Now to the heart of the problem...

The state is considering giving school divisions a “holiday” from paying into the Virginia Retirement System. If approved, that measure would save the school system $16 million for FY11. But the holiday would not be a long-term solution to the school system’s budget problems since it would only be in effect for one or two years.

The School Board is only planning for the short term bandaid fix.  Last year it was the "stimulus" funds that went right into school operations.  This year they are plugging the gap with funding that should be reserved for retirement funds.  Do you see a trend?  Instead of strategic cuts that will get us to a sustainable budget.  we get a bunch of bandaids and we are convinced it is merely a flesh wound.  We need a tourniquet stat, it just might save our life and surely we will bleed to death without it.

CCPS begins the game of chicken...

The Taxpayer is noticing a curious shift in the Chesterfield School Board.  From the budget bluster to this....

The news is better for some. The school system expected to cut 300 positions, they instead will cut 200 and paycuts will only be reduced one percent instead of two or three.

Instantly better news?  How could this be? Did someone get smart? 

The bad news is happening in the County's central office. The cuts will be increased there from $600,000 to $1.3 million. Nine positions will be eliminated including the loss of two assistant superintendents.

The Taxpayer thinks that if you double or triple that number it would be closer to what is necessary.  Note to state and federal legislators: Stop over-regulating local education matters.  Regulation is a form of tax.  It requires localities to meet the new regulation with more central office staff.  Stop contributing to the bloat.

It will defer school improvements at Midlothian Middle School, Midlothian High School, Watkins Elementary and Gates Elementary. Stalling those projects will save the district an anticipated $4.7 million.

No. It will not save anything.  It will defer the maintenance improvements.  Instead of making substantial operating cuts, the Adminstrator of Bloat continues to use maintenance dollars for central office operations.

Someone is obviously playing chicken.  The Taxpayer will not blink.

Chesterfield will spend your money whether you watch or not...

The RTD has a new tool out...

The Virginia Department of Education collects data every two years to create a formula to determine how much money the state provides for local education.

The composite index is based on a locality's income levels, state tax revenue and real estate taxes, and school enrollment and local population, compared to the whole state. The result is an index that determines a locality's ability to pay for its schools. A low index indicates less ability to pay.

Here is a fascinating tidbit when you use this source plus a Chesterfield County Budget presentation.

In 2010, Chesterfield County has $35.6B in assessed property (that is what all The Chesterfield Taxpayers own in real property).  It had $9.1B in adjusted gross income (that is what all The Chesterfield Taxpayers make in a year).  Chesterfield County and the Chesterfield County Public Schools took $1.2B of what we earned or 13.5% and spent it.  Each of the 298,850 taxpayers that reside in Chesterfield, let their local government decide where $4,000 was spent.  If one had a $4,000 claim in an organization, wouldn't one pay more attention to decisions made on your behalf?  A simple family of four has a $16,000 claim.  The Taxpayer is asking you to stake your claim and get involved.

Now for the scary part...  The United States has a $12.4 Trillion Dollar debt bill that will come due for your children and grandchildren.  According to the RTD tool, all of Virginia's assessed property is equal to $1.15 Trillion.  It would take 10 Virginias to pay off our national debt. Virginia's annual adjusted gross income is $227B.  If every Virginian worked solely to pay off the national debt, it would take 54 years to pay it off.

The Taxpayer feels the noose tightening while others are still thinking of it as a brand new tie.

UPDATE: Here is link to a map that explains reverting back to the Dept. of Education  formula for state funding.

School Board and CEA Tactics Shift: Will ask for their "fair share"

WTVR has this report on our Chesterfield School Board and the Chesterfield Education Association

Frank Cardella, President of the Chesterfield Education Association says "It's terrible. It's a sad day in education." That's his reaction to supervisors rejecting the highly anticipated tax increase. Cardella says he's fielded numerous calls from angry teachers who were counting on this. He says "We have just spent the last six years getting teacher salaries up to market value and now the funding available for those positions is going to be cut."

It's nice to see the citizen support of the bloat.  The Taxpayer would see it as a decade of runaway, unsustainable budgets. The CEA's reaction is just one of anger.  It is interesting to see the use of the words "highly anticipated tax increase".  What does that mean?

It is amazing to see the Avatar dreamworld created by the CEA with little regard for the condition of The Taxpayer since about 2007 or 2008.

"We the undersigned, urge the Chesterfield County Board of Supervisors to increase the property tax rate and to designate sufficient funds each year to maintain existing programs and current class sizes while retaining ALL teaching and support personnel positions necessary to obtain these goals." ~ Chesterfield County Residents for Quality Education

Really?  The CEA wants to retain all positions... Wake up!  This sums it up about the CEA. From the "Leaders" tab...

The leaders of the CEA look a lot like the followers - because they are the followers.

It appears that our Bloated Schools Administrator "Leader" is still on the wrong mission

"Chesterfield school leaders are working with local and state elected officials to ensure education remains their top funding priority. The school division is seeking long-term solutions to the current budget crisis. What we are hearing so far from elected officials represent short-term solutions that will leave significant funding gaps for future years. The School Board's adopted FY2011 operating budget makes $26 million in cuts. This is in addition to the $44 million in cuts already made to this year's budget."

Here "long term solutions" means new taxes; and "significant funding gaps" are manufactured to create a crisis.  Mr. Newsome, it is time to dial in a new target.  More funding does not equate to better educated kids.

Now the bloated school argument will shift to "we are nice folks and we need our fair share".  Newsome is upfront about his intentions:

"We remain hopeful that the county's proposed budget released next Wednesday will reflect our requests to fund schools at the current 61.3 percent of tax collections and return all of the school division's accrued savings from FY 2008 and FY 2009."

From the RTD...

The Liaison Committee, which includes members of the Chesterfield County School Board and the Board of Supervisors, will meet Wednesday at 9:30 a.m. at the School Administration Building, 9900 Krause Road.

The Taxpayer hopes the mission is clear.  It is also nice to see the time is convenient for working Taxpayers to attend.

Different Views of the Taxpayer

It appears that the Village News has some thoughts that are in limbo about the Chesterfield Taxpayer. We fixed the picture to depict what we think of the Chesterfield Taxpayer. (We are the bosses after all)

Let’s deconstruct the progressive viewpoint espoused by the Editor of the Village News

Our state legislators need a wakeup call. It’s time that they step up to the plate and do what we elected them to do: provide for the common good. … Thomas Jefferson said, “All tyranny needs to gain a foothold is for people of good conscience to remain silent.”

Perhaps the indoctrination of editor into the progressive movement is now complete. However, truth will win out as our Declaration of Independence, penned by Thomas Jefferson, plainly states “That to secure these rights, governments are instituted among men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed”. We elect representatives to protect our rights as they take an oath to protect and defend the Virginia Constitution and the US Constitution. Both documents protect rights and limit our government’s power, just as old TJ envisioned.

The editor clearly believes that the government is there to provide things for the collective. Thomas Jefferson would take issue with the Editor’s progressive pushiness stating:

“That government is best which governs the least, because its people discipline themselves.”

Let us remind the gentle editor that the government is force. The government always requires property to be taken from someone and given to someone else in the form of taxes. A limited government is closer to providing true liberty than any other form. Returning to the words of Jefferson so there is no doubt:

I place economy among the first and most important virtues, and public debt as the greatest of dangers to be feared. To preserve our independence, we must not let our rulers load us with perpetual debt. If we run into such debts, we must be taxed in our meat and drink, in our necessities and in our comforts, in our labor and in our amusements. If we can prevent the government from wasting the labor of the people, under the pretense of caring for them, they will be happy.

OR

"A wise and frugal government which shall restrain men from injuring one another, which shall leave them otherwise free to regulate their own pursuits of industry and improvement, and shall not take from the mouth of labor the bread it has earned. This is the sum of good government."

Jefferson stands against the progressives of the modern era and those in Chesterfield County that believe that bloated governance is good governance.

Finally Thomas Jefferson was no friend to the newspapers; he would much preferred the Taxpayer’s blog where civil discourse reigns supreme…

The man who reads nothing at all is better educated than the man who reads nothing but newspapers - TJ

For good measure, In a July 7, 1793 letter, TJ urges Madison to keep local newspapers in check…

"for god's sake, my dear Sir, take up your pen, select the most striking heresies, and cut him to peices [sic] in the face of the public."

Done. Hot spud returned to Editor’s lap.

So the Taxpayer recommends that you of good conscience do not remain silent. Do not leave Chesterfield’s future to others. We can make our own destiny for our county and we need government at the local, state, and federal government to be limited and to kindly step aside. Taxation, regulation, and inflation are three sources of legal plunder and the government’s power needs to be limited in all three. Founding fathers, like Jefferson, would encourage a return to the Constitution and the principles that made our country great.

While we agree with the Editor’s chosen quote that simply states that all a bad person needs to become a leader is for the good people to do nothing. He has just identified the wrong people by claiming that “Delegate Cox, Delegate Nixon, Delegate Ware, Senator Martin, Senator Watkins and their cronies at the general assembly” are bad. These good people of Virginia are working for Jeffersonian ideals of limited governance.

The Taxpayer would encourage the editor to look at the federal level and see an unresponsive Senator Warner, Senator Webb, and President or at the local level and see an unresponsive School Board with bloated governance. However, that wouldn’t be “progressive” enough.

Ultimately, we just have differing views. The Taxpayer views the Taxpayer as a sovereign individual granting specific, written, enumerated powers to the state to protect their rights. The Progressive Editor wants the Taxpayer to forget all that garbage about the Constitution and view themselves as sheep that need to be fleeced for the purposes of the state. The difference between the two is that the sheep don’t seem to mind.

Fun Fun Fun... Until Daddy Takes the Money Away...

From the evening edition of the Richmond News Leader...(RTD) minus the timeless school board member quotes...

The Chesterfield County School Board gave initial approval tonight to a revised school budget that saves about 100 jobs and lowers employee pay cuts from what first was proposed.

Is this really planning for the future or just marking time until the next trough fills up? Where is the belt tightening?

The $548.3 million plan for 2010-2011 still includes $26.5 million in cuts

By The Taxpayer's calculator, that is a whopping 4.8%. AND we just established that the largest private sector corporation, Dupont, reduced staff by 14%. I believe you are halfway home CCPS. Find another $26.5M and I'll believe you are preparing for the long haul.

The school district faces a $42 million budget shortfall, but Newsome and the board have asked the county to contribute an additional $16.2 million to help close the gap. If the county doesn't come through, more cuts would be made, school officials say.

Here is some advice to the School Board from The Taxpayer. If your shortfall is $42M, make $42M in cuts. The RTD should call it the same way and stop playing the CCPS game.

In other business, the School Board approved the 2010 redistricting boundaries for Carver and Elizabeth Davis middle schools. Sixththrough eighth-grade students who would have gone to Chester Middle School in the fall will be split between Carver and Elizabeth Davis.

How much money did building two unnecessary middle schools in the Bermuda District save again? Hope the Bermuda kids love the inside of the bus, because they will be sitting about 1.5 hours a day in one. Quality time with the bus driver; instead of Mom and Dad.

Chesterfield County is the third largest employer in the state?

Here is a Coalminer Boast that begs a question.

From the Building and Grounds – Division of General Services Case Study from June 2008.

"Chesterfield County government operations consist of 49 departments and over 4,000 employees. Chesterfield County is one of the 100 largest school districts in the nation. The county school system includes 59 schools and approximately 8,000 employees. Chesterfield county Government’s total employment makes it the third largest employer in Virginia behind only the State Government and the Federal Government."

Wow! Just wow! So where are the private small businesses in Chesterfield?  Ummm... The Taxpayer imagines that all those would-be small business folks work for the government.

So get this... the top three employers in Chesterfield County as of the 2nd Quarter of 2009 according to the Virginia Employment Commission

1. Chesterfield County School Board
2. County of Chesterfield
3. U.S. Department of Defense

If you added up all the private sector jobs at Dupont, UPS, and Walmart in Chesterfield County, there would still be more working for the new Big 3. (Remember the old days when the big 3 meant car companies)

So let's take Dupont. DuPont job cuts include 450-500 at Spruance plant from May 2009. That's 450 out of 3,122 employees or by The Taxpayer's calculator 14%. What would that translate to for reductions at the local government if it followed “the largest decline in industrial demand in decades."

Some other heavies on the state government scene:

• At #10, Virginia State University beats Bon Secours
• At #14, Virginia State Police bests Capital One Bank
• At # 21,22, and 23 John Tyler, VDOT, and the Dept of Juvenile Justice tops Target, AdvantiStaff, and Lowes.

How does Chesterfield County government sustain itself under its own bloated weight with its largest employers struggling and therefore the families struggling to make the next meal?

Here's a concept to throw darts at The Taxpayer.  If our best and brightest are government employees, how about offering a course or two to these employees on how to operate a small business?  At the very least, they will begin to appreciate what a small business is all about and appreciate their existence.  As a goal, what would happen if 20% of the government workforce converted over to the private sector with their own small, start up businesses?  What would Chesterfield look like in 10 years?

Back to the case study...

The Chesterfield County Division of Building and Grounds is one of eight divisions within the Department of General Services and performs maintenance for approximately 70 buildings and the associated grounds within the county complex and several outlining buildings including libraries and police precincts located in various regions of the County’s 444 square miles of land.

So no schools are maintained by this division. Begs the question, why are the schools maintained separately from the county?  Wouldn't there be more efficient use of tax dollars for maintenance and upkeep with greater economies of scale?

Fees are taxes and a Taxpayer Challenge

The second half of today's RTD article was just as fascinating...

Let's all repeat "Fees are taxes"...

An average bill would see a $1.29 increase monthly on their water and wastewater bill.
Connection fees for typical residential meters are proposed to increase in water from $4,025 to $4,400 and in wastewater from $3,140 to $3,455. The connection fees for larger meters will increase proportionately based on size.

Then there is this IT nugget…

A code change also is proposed that would allow the county to collect all delinquent property taxes before issuing a business license. The change would come ahead of implementation of a new tax assessment, billing and collection system.

So how much did this new system cost?

First, it looks like a Reston based firm, Avenity, has the contract for a new revenue management system.

RESTON, Virginia December 9, 2008 -

Avenity is pleased to announce Chesterfield County, VA signed a contract to purchase Avenity’s revenue management system, RevenueOne®. RevenueOne® will allow the County to replace its existing legacy tax systems and will intelligently integrate with the County's many applications.

Avenity is excited to welcome Chesterfield County as our newest client.

RevenueOne®
RevenueOne® is a revenue management system built from the ground up, specifically for Virginia’s Commissioners of the Revenue, Treasurers, and Finance Directors. Built on Title 58.1 of the Code of Virginia, RevenueOne® offers tax assessment, collection, billing, and compliance features in one user-friendly package. RevenueOne® is an integrated taxpayer-centric system that can be implemented by Counties, Cities, and Towns to greatly improve the effectiveness and efficiency of your revenue management and collection processes.

From the 2009-10 Biennial Financial Plan with 2010 Amendments

In partnership with the Chesterfield County Treasurer’s Office, the Commissioner of the Revenue’s Office is purchasing and implementing a new tax assessment and collections customer service system known as the Taxation Customer Service System (TCSS). It is expected to be completed in the next in 12 to 18 months and will bring increased efficiencies and greater ease for providing customer service to the county’s residents and county administration regarding taxation.

Isn't a Taxation Customer Service System an oxymoron?

The Taxpayer Challenge medal of honor will be awarded to the first taxpayer who can tell the Taxpayer how much the system cost.  If we had a transparent budget online, the Taxpayer would have found the answer within 5 minutes.  Since we don't, the Challenge is issued.

Showdown this Wednesday... Belt Tighteners v. Big Spenders

This Wednesday February 24th beginning at 6:30PM, there will be a showdown at the Board of Supervisors meeting.

The Main Event at the Public Meeting Room...

Big Spenders versus the Belt Tighteners



It will be between those that diet by eating less or those that diet by loosening their belt and eating more.


From today's RTD...

Board of Supervisors Chairman Daniel A. Gecker was the only supervisor who last year sought to advertise a higher tax rate in case state budget changes worsened the county's revenue outlook.

"I still believe we ought to give ourselves that flexibility," he said.

“Flexibility” is code for we are not going to tighten our belts like families do. “Flexibility” means we are going to eat into your wallet instead of our bottomline. “Flexibility” means our government services are more important than your family’s economic choices. “Flexibility” means growth in government. (And yes growth in a recession means “revenue neutral” .)

School leaders have asked the supervisors to raise the rate to at least 99 cents to help offset its own shortfall.

“School Leaders” would not ask for more in these tough economic times. They would figure out the best course of action and execute it. “School Leaders” let the budget get to unsustainable levels during the good days instead of applying restraint. Now it is raining. Time to cut and remember the lesson of sustainable budgets when times are good again.

The Chesterfield Business Council issued a statement Friday supporting a rate adjustment, but no higher than the revenue-neutral $1, so most homeowners would not see higher tax bills.

We have businesses in Chesterfield? Who is on this council? Our largest employer is the school system. Are they on this council?

The Chesterfield Business Council (CBC) was the first of four advisory councils established by the Greater Richmond Chamber of Commerce in 1980. The CBC promotes the objectives of the Chamber and addresses issues of importance to Chesterfield County businesses. Members serve on committees and task forces under the Council’s Board of Directors. The CBC meets monthly.  

The CBC website is hosted by the Greater Richmond Chamber of Commerce here . The CBC chair is currently John R Easter. 

Why does Mr. Easter, as CBC Chairman, want to raise our taxes through a “revenue neutral” rate hike? The Taxpayer wants to know.

Here is the CBC press release.

Here is how the CBC phrases our current budget situation in Chesterfield…

"the challenging budget decisions..."
"significant impacts on levels of service..."
"extraordinary budgetary cuts..."
"prevent the significant deterioration of essential services..."
"the extreme budget expenditure reductions..."

Sounds like a real crisis. We better raise that tax rate!!!!  But wait a minute...What about the families and their own personal economic strife? Who is their voice? Certainly not the CBC!?

Yet the CBC uses language that sounds so soothing to the ear of the uninitated:

"that taxes paid by most residents would not exceed the amount paid last fiscal year"
"net change in taxes due to the combination of assessed values and rate should be, at most, revenue-neutral"

Why not give it a chance??

The Taxpayer would argue that the County has not fulfilled the CBC’s own itemized requests:

"encourage County officials to give thoughtful consideration as funds are allocated to ensure that every dollar spent improves government and schools..."
"that expense reductions drive efficiency and minimize waste..."
"ask our County leaders to protect Chesterfield County’s economic, civic and educational reputation by making fiscally sound decisions..."

Until such time that we have wise, frugal stewards of our tax dollars, we would respectfully ask that Mr. Easter and the CBC withhold their support for a rate hike that takes away from families’ bottomline.

To add to the confusion, check out this letter sent to Superintendent Newsome by the CBC just three months ago!  It is interesting and confusing to the Taxpayer that the same CBC that wants to give additional funding to the county is also seeking additional transparency from the School System. One would think it would be required that transparency comes first and funding second. Perhaps the CBC just may have forgotten their December 2009 letter to Superintendent Newsome. Maybe the CBC can clarify the matter.

The Taxpayer urges you to show up this Wednesday night and voice your opinion. Be a part of this important community decision. We can no longer afford to leave these decisions to others.

Stegmaier loves the meals tax

A Valentine's Day hangover with love from the Times Dispatch... Va. counties again seek authority to levy meals tax without referendum

Chesterfield County Administrator James J.L. Stegmaier said the county supports the idea on principle,

Shouldn't the government size shrink as much as the private citizens it represents? Maybe if pay raises of our administrators were tied to their ability to deliver smaller government, the taxpayer would be offering a better incentive and a clearer message.