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As your elected Commissioner, there is one thing I’ve definitely learned: politicians can manipulate a budget to make it appear to be something it’s not. That is certainly the case with CEO Vernon Jones who has proposed a $623 million budget for 2008, a 2 percent increase over 2007. And while he “says” he is not putting forth a plan that requires a tax hike, if you look at the documents closely, it absolutely will require a tax hike unless this Commission makes some dramatic cuts. For example, it was highly irresponsible for Jones, who is running for United States Senate, to recommend a budget that included the opening of five new libraries in the county, but without staff. Not only did he cut $1.6 million form the library system, but he failed to fund the librarians, administrators, technical support, and security guards needed to open the libraries. The libraries were built with funds from a voter-approved bond line. All this is his way of forcing commissioners to raise taxes to pay for something the public expect from the vote on the Library Bond in 2006. If Jones were the fiscal conservative he claims to be, he would have made the necessary choices and cut the budget in other areas tot pay for the personnel needed to open these libraries that will be located throughout the county. He did find the funds to hire 92 additional employees, making DeKalb County one of the largest public employers in the state. If this budget were to be adopted, we would have 7,871 full time employees – more than even Fulton County. We currently have more than 600 part-time or temporary workers on the county payroll. Granted, 50 of those 92 new positions are for additional police officers. But Jones should have used the other available positions to fill vacancies to open our new libraries. Despite a rocky economy, tax collections were up for 2007 with the combined collections for the HOST sales tax and property taxes for a total increase of 3% from $187.5 million to $193.1 million. That illustrates we should not be put in such a bind when it comes to budgeting priorities; yet Jones saw fit to spend $6.4 million on new or expanded programs. Since Jones became CEO, the county’s budget has grown more than 54 percent while the county’s population has grown about 29 percent. I will be voting – as I do every year – against any tax increase as I believe we can put together a budget that provides the services and personnel we need without raising taxes. That can be done by cutting waste and unnecessary expansion of government. Thankfully, many DeKalb homeowners signed up for the county’s five-year property tax freeze last winter. But for those who didn’t, and others who own commercial property, these continued tax hikes are going to make our county a less attractive place to live and do business. This will be the legacy of Vernon Jones. |
