CCTA Watchdog Report on Public Hearing on the Craven County FY 2013 Budget

Editor's Note:  A special thanks to all the CCTA members that spoke at the public hearing and those that came out to show support.  We had 18 members in attendance!  ~ Lynn

June 5, 2012

You can find the budget on line at http://www.cravencounty.com/admin/documents/2012/FY2013_ProposedBudget_May-21-2012.pdf .


First, I want to thank the many CCTA members who attended the public hearing many of whom spoke about our values and what we think of the budget and how government is taking from some citizens to give to other citizens. I believe we are united in thinking that it is not a proper function of government. EVERY SINGLE SPEAKER DID AN EXCELLENT JOB!

Again, I was challenged on my belief that the county budget is actually still growing. My point is that the beginning budget for FY 2013 is larger than the beginning budget of FY 2012 and is likely to continue to grow as the Board administers the budget during the year. I believe it will eventually surpass the FY 2012 budget. Time will tell who is right about that, and I will continue to monitor and report to you.

I also want to repeat that the budget for salaries and benefits for the 600 or so county employees will go up by 1.3% in FY 2013 in spite of the Reduction in Force (RIF). Taxpayers are suffering, and this move should not have been taken at this time. As to the staff additions, with one exception, I still have not seen any data supporting the assertions that they serve vital functions that we could not do without.

In spite of our petitions and pleas, the Commissioners have continued the practice of giving taxpayer money to philanthropic organizations. We maintain that the government has not been granted the power to do this by us citizens. We don't have the power to take from a neighbor under threat of force in order to give to these organizations no matter how much good work they do. It would still be stealing which is immoral and in no way legal.


The argument that has been voiced by Commissioners is that if they did not contribute to these organizations, the work they do would have to be taken up by the county, and that would eventually cost the taxpayers more. While I believe the commissioners are sincere, I believe they are mistaken. If there were a vacuum, families, friends, neighbors, churches and the philanthropic organizations would provide these services. The commissioners themselves appear to think that is true in the case of Religious Community Services (RCS). This is a group formed by churches, but very poorly supported by them. There is no doubt that they do good work in providing a homeless shelter. That's not the point. Supporting them is just not a proper function of government.

One thing I will concede is that this situation of our government's taking care of citizens (some of whom cannot care for themselves and some of whom have been taught by government bureaucracy to be dependent) evolved over time. To cut it off "cold turkey" could very well cause hardship to people who do not deserve it. Therefore, it's probably better to work incrementally toward the goal of no government involvement in charity so that families and charitable organizations can prepare themselves to take up the slack. Still, we need to be vigilant to insure that the spigot really is being shut off. Government needs to stop forcibly taking from one citizen in order to give to another. Stealing is stealing!


The same rational should apply to the other groups to whom the commissioners gave money. These include Promise Place, Merci Clinic, Red Cross, and The Coastal Women's Shelter.


Even more objectionable to us is that the county will continue it's own philanthropic activities. It cannot be said often enough that taking from taxpayers and spending the money, not for the general good of citizens at large, but to benefit a select few citizens is wrong. Falling into this category are most of the activities of the Department of Social Services, The Adult Clinic, CARTS, and the like. Again, government needs to back out of these entirely.

The HWY 70 and HWY 17 lobbying groups are also poor investments of taxpayer money. I continue to believe that NC DOT does exactly as they would if these groups did not exist.

The budget that appears to be headed for approval still includes money for "Governmental Entities" other than counties and municipalities. These include the Down East RPO ($9,061), The School of Government ($9,241), The Council of Governments - COG ($16,940), the Association of County Commissioners ($10,370), The Association of Black Officials ($100), and The Association of County Clerks ($245). That last one is probably OK. The rest of them just try to lead us down the Agenda 21 road toward global socialism, one world government, and complete population control and subjugation.

The Board has convinced me personally that the Structured Day Reporting organization does perform a service as part of the juvenile court system that provides a cost saving to the alternative of expensive incarceration, and therefore it deserves taxpayer support. It isn't just a boondoggle for teens, but something they must do if they are to avoid incarceration, and apparently a high percentage of them are not repeat offenders.


The Board should not initiate programs in the school system and provide money for them. The State of North Carolina used half it's revenue for education last year. In addition, 41% of Craven County's budget goes to education. WITH ALL THAT MONEY, OUR SCHOOLS ARE STILL FAILING! More money is not the answer. Look for solutions elsewere.

NOW FOR SOME GOOD NEWS!

The off-the-wall request by the city of Havelock for $440,019 was given a quick thumbs down by the Board. Hoo-ray!

The move by the county to dissolve the Economic Development Commission and have their function administered by county staff under the watchful eye of the commissioners is a very good one. It will save the taxpayers a great deal of money IF THE COUNTY DOES NOT UNDERTAKE EXPENSIVE, TAXPAYER SUPPORTED PROJECTS TO ATTRACT BIG BUSINESS OR INDUSTRY TO CRAVEN COUNTY. THESE PROJECTS HAVE PROVEN DISASTROUS IN OTHER PLACES. The best thing government can do at any level is to get out of the way of business by reducing regulation and taxation; the second step is to communicate that information to businesses; the third step is to STAY out of the way.


Another good development is the dissolution of the Military Growth Task Force. This was another group that ate up a lot of taxpayer money and produced absolutely nothing. (I'm not sure the commissioners had anything to do with that, but it is great news that I want to share).

The reduction of staff at the Department of Social Services is another very good move (again, not sure it wasn't the State that did that).

Joe Albanese, a member of CCTA who happens to also volunteer at the Sheriff's Office, did some checking for us on the necessity to hire a deputy to administer the ankle bracelet release program. He reports that this program will definitely save taxpayer money. He also believes that the Sheriff's Office has such an active work schedule already, that these duties cannot be assumed by someone already in the employ of the Sheriff's office. Therefore, I put this action in the category of good news.

Another good development was the decision to require fire departments to manage within the fire tax revenue generated for their fire districts. There have been requests from fire departments for matching funds for their grant requests from the general tax revenue of the county. So far, requests denied.


The County Clerk, Gwen Bryan, is also the chairperson of the Craven County 300 Celebration. In this role, Gwen has done an excellent job for the taxpayers by continuing to conduct a yearlong celebration with great community participation at very little cost to the taxpayer. She deserves our appreciation for this.


That is all the good news I can think of coming from the budget process BUT THERE HAS BEEN PROGRESS TOWARD MORE FISCAL RESPONSIBILITY.

The decision to pay more for legal services and have the county attorney's firm on retainer might turn out to be a good move. Only time will tell. I'm surprised though that only one law firm is considered capable of performing this function for the county.


I CERTAINLY HOPE THE IDEA OF DSS's APPLYING FOR RECOGNITION AS A FEDERALLY QUALIFIED HEALTH CENTER HAS BEEN PROPERLY PUT TO BED! THIS WOULD BE A TERRIBLE EXPANSION OF GOVERNMENT WHERE PRIVATE ENTERPRISE SHOULD BE ALLOWED TO FUNCTION. IT WOULD ALSO BE MASSIVELY MORE COSTLY TO THE TAXPAYERS!

There appears to have been no decision made about withdrawing from the Regional Library System. This is another idea I support, so I hope it will be done.


As to what to do with the surplus taxpayer money left over from the FY 2012 budget, the decision (tentative until 13 June 12) is to lower the tax rate to a whole number (47 cents per $100 dollars of property assessment). It took $265,000 to do that. The remainder would be put into the general fund for FY 2013, and decisions about what to do with it would be made as time goes on.


Those of you who were at the public hearing know that I got hammered for criticizing Commissioner McCabe for requesting pay increases and travel allowance increases for Board members. Commissioner Mark said he had good reason and a right to request these changes to the budget. I agree, and I also think I have good reason and a right to object.

Respectfully submitted:
Hal James, Chairman,
CCTA Watchdog Committee