Wednesday, August 1, 2001

One of the budget issues raised by Councilman Steve Rapson at the July 19 PTC Budget Workshop was that we ought to look at delaying (not eliminating) the west-side fire station.

Dan Tennant and I met with John Wieland Homes months ago and asked them to donate a parcel on the west side for the new station and they agreed. We own the land, so why not wait until we figure out how to repair the budget before beginning the project?

To my surprise, Rapson just about got his head taken off by three of the other council members for the suggestion. Nearly every curt reply from the opposing members began with "the Fire Chief said" and carried the theme of public safety.

What was really strange about the whole incident was that the Fire Chief was present at the meeting and he barely uttered a word on the subject.

Perhaps he had remembered what had transpired at the November 2, 2000 City Council meeting. The night of the Wal-Mart vote, many citizens raised public safety concerns regarding the State Route 54 Corridor West.

However, the minutes of the meeting reveal that the Fire Chief thought differently.

"He said the bottom line was that even with an increase in traffic their response times would probably be as good as it is now and possibly better with the improvements made by Home Depot and Wal-Mart" (City Council, Nov. 2, 2000).

In addition, "[Councilman] Brooks said Chief Lohr specifically stated that the Fire Department could get through quicker if the improvements were made."

Mayor Lenox also spoke on this point. "He said he also had concerns about safety, but the explanations Chief Lohr gave explained that response times might improve with the development [Wal-Mart]."

Councilman Brooks concluded by saying, "Three firms and the Fire Chief have told them that things would be better if the road improvements were made."

Councilwoman Fritz voted for the Home Depot and the Wal-Mart based on the Chief stating the problems were nonexistent. Now, she is claiming that we cannot make a responsible budgeting maneuver because the chief maintains that the problems now exist. Skepticism abounds.

Building off of what Councilman Rapson has begun, I will offer some points towards a political budget platform.

First, make 4.25 mills the ceiling and make it a goal never to go beyond that point. We need to aim for no tax increases and strive to maximize efficiency.

Second, with expenditures outpacing revenue, we ought to use the hundreds of thousands of dollars in hotel/motel tax revenue for legitimate infrastructure projects like cart paths and roads. I will tell you up front that the value of my home benefits from the Tennis Center expansion. However, I cannot justify the over $2 million expense in the midst of the upcoming deficit budgets. We own the land and we can build the expansion when budget corrections are in place.

Third, promote stability, predictability, and affordability in the budgetary process. We are facing taxes for school bonds and the new county jail. Escalating our PTC taxes by 24% to atone for prior budgeting mistakes will only make things worse for our seniors and our young families.

I am not proposing an austerity plan, but rather a plan that promotes consistency.

Having the mayor pull all these expensive rabbits out of the hat with only six months remaining in office so that the next administration can deal with the headaches of accountability is a poor legacy indeed.

Rolling this year's millage rate back and approving a large increase in the city's payroll plan simultaneously was budgetary suicide. Not including the Tennis Center expansion in the referendum and not letting the voters decide is unacceptable.

Steve Brown

Peachtree City

Steve_ptc@juno.com

[Brown is an announced candidate for mayor of Peachtree City. The Citizen welcomes letters from candidates for all local offices and from citizens commenting on the candidates and issues raised. We will print the letters, subject to standard editing practices for length and conformity to libel laws, until the week before the election.]

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