No shortage of gray area

Earlier today I received a release from Wicomico County PIO Jim Fineran regarding a Daily Times article by Greg Latshaw on the county’s FY2010 budget; a piece County Executive Rick Pollitt claimed was rife with “important” errors. Here’s a portion of what Pollitt noted:

First, the headline implies that the county has “come up short.” In the release, I said, “I expect county revenues to be down by about $12 Million. That equals an operating budget of approximately $117 Million.” In fact, the county budget will be balanced as is required by the Charter. The budget may be less but it won’t be short. We’ll be meeting payroll and paying our bills as always.

Second, I have unveiled nothing despite what the newspaper story states. The news release clearly states that I shall present my Fiscal Year 2010 budget to the public on April 2nd. I said, “I expect county revenues to be down by about $12 Million.” While this will probably be the case, at this point it is a prediction since I point out in the news release that I am “preparing this year’s budget.” I still have several budget hearings left with county departments, so there is much work left to be done before the public meeting on April 2nd.

Third, at no point in the news release do I state that the projections constitute the Fiscal Year 2010 Budget. All of the language I used indicates what is going to happen…such as “submit budget proposal to the County Council by April 15th” or “details of my proposed budget.”

I anticipate working on the FY 2010 budget “right down to the wire,” so to speak. I am not having the public meeting on April 2nd for fun. I sincerely want to hear what my constituents have to say about my budget and act upon it if appropriate. Also, the financial situation with the State of Maryland is in constant flux and the Legislature is still in session. Decisions may still be made in Annapolis that could impact the FY 2010 budget.

(The emphasis is underlined in the original and bold in my version.)

Perhaps the headline writer sensationalized the story in order to grab the reader’s attention; nevertheless the point remains that, barring a sudden reversal of fortune, Pollitt concedes Wicomico County’s budget will be much leaner in FY2010 than it was in FY2009. The Daily Times also states clearly that the April 2nd budget presentation will fill in the details on how Pollitt plans on trimming the budget.

Rick also doesn’t deny the Daily Times assertion regarding 10 percent cuts in each department, which would lead the reader to assume that the $12 million figure isn’t vastly far off.

Much as the budgetary process for the state of Maryland, Wicomico County’s budget comes to fruition through an arduous process where the budget as presented by the executive may only be cut by the legislative body (in our county’s case the seven-member County Council) but no items may be added. However, the total amount of funds may still be allocated to various items as Pollitt can redistribute deleted dollars as he sees fit. For example, if County Council cut $5 million of funding from various line items, that $5 million can be spent in other areas the Executive deems worthy.

At least that’s how I read this paragraph in the March 23rd budget release:

Per the Wicomico County Charter, the Council may delete from line items of the proposal but they may not add to line items or the total. If deletions are made, the executive may allocate that amount to other items. If the Council fails to approve the original or amended budget by June 15th, the budget as submitted goes into effect on July 1st.

In essence, what County Council cuts becomes Pollitt’s budgetary slush fund. It’s a weakness of the approach dictated by our county’s charter because if County Council doesn’t care for the changes Pollitt makes they’ll either be stuck making the changes or reverting back to the original budget.

For his part, I can imagine Rick Pollitt stating the real weakness of our County Charter is the revenue cap therein. Again, quoting from the March 23rd release:

Just two years ago, when I struck my first budget, we were at $132 Million. At the same time, the county tax rate has decreased. In Fiscal Year 2010, the tax rate will be below what it was in 1989. The major portion of the county budget is dedicated to education and public safety. There isn’t much left after that.”

Needless to say the wild card in the process is state funding. If Governor O’Malley chooses to balance his FY2010 budget on the backs of the counties (instead of making real cuts like the subject of tomorrow’s article seems to be doing) Wicomico County could take even more of a hit.

Nor do we know what new strings could come attached to money from Annapolis (or Washington). One contention I’ve had for awhile is that there are times “free” money can become problematic because politicians don’t think through the ramifications of acceptance. County Councilman John Cannon alludes to that when discussing the education portion of the county budget in the Daily Times article.

A more potent example to me comes from the city of Salisbury seeking a federal COPS grant to hire 6 to 8 new police officers [the application proposal (see pages 47-51 here)  has six, Debbie Campbell alluded to the number being eight in the recent Council forum.] What happens to those officers in three years if the grant runs out then?

If I have the opportunity to attend the county budget briefing on April 2nd I’m sure that one question I’d have going in is how much of the budget we have depends on state funding and federal stimulus money, and what impact any provisos attached to that money would have on the budget’s out years. Particularly in this day and age I feel politicians are becoming increasingly short-sighted and not looking at the impact our fiscal decisions have on future generations. It’s a trend we need to stop – so why not make Wicomico County a leader in responsible fiscal planning?

Author: Michael

It's me from my laptop computer.

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