Hear, hear. And, to the earlier point, though regrettable and somewhat disturbing that our assessments have gone down, I, for one, would certainly not want the town services and quality of life here - present day and future - to decline along with them. That would only exacerbate the situation and threaten us with a never-ending downward spiral. I applaud our council and government for maintaining a forward-looking budget and program despite the tremendous hit our economy has taken, especially so since they've been able to not increase our property tax rates while doing so, thus far. <br>
<br>To another earlier point, if our assessments decline by, say, 25% and our rates are held steady, our property taxes will decline by approximately 25% too (that's a bit oversimplistic, but for the sake of an example...). Once that has happened, it would take a 33% rate increase to get us back to the <u>same</u> amount of property taxes owed. (100 to 75 is a 25% decline, but 75 to 100 is a 33% increase). We can all be thankful that the town is increasingly benefiting from the development taking place in our community, and is not entirely reliant on homeowners and small businesses to foot all the bills. That being said, in order to maintain the fine quality of life and services that we all enjoy here, if it were necessary to raise the tax rates I would consider that neither a tax increase (our taxes have actually gone down) nor bad policy. If good stewardship of our town, and maintaining its services and amenities, should require adjustments in our tax rates, so be it. That would be the prudent and responsible thing to do.<br>
<br>Dwight (the other) Holmes <br>Riverdale Rd (Ward 1)<br><br><span class="HOEnZb adL"><font color="#888888">"A <span class="il">budget</span> is a <span class="il">moral</span> <span class="il">document</span>." --Jim Wallis, <i>Sojourner Magazine</i><br>
</font></span><br><br><div class="gmail_quote">On Mon, Jan 7, 2013 at 6:11 PM, Jonathan W. Ebbeler <span dir="ltr"><<a href="mailto:jebbeler@efusionconsulting.com" target="_blank">jebbeler@efusionconsulting.com</a>></span> wrote:<br>
<blockquote class="gmail_quote" style="margin:0 0 0 .8ex;border-left:1px #ccc solid;padding-left:1ex"><div link="blue" vlink="purple" lang="EN-US"><div><p class="MsoNormal"><u></u> <u></u></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:8.0pt;font-family:"Verdana","sans-serif";color:#000040">Mr. Holmes – <u></u><u></u></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:8.0pt;font-family:"Verdana","sans-serif";color:#000040"><u></u> <u></u></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:8.0pt;font-family:"Verdana","sans-serif";color:#000040">One person’s necessary project is seen by another as unnecessary waste. This is a fundamental view of society that unfortunately is difficult to reconcile politically. To some of us a community center where the many hundreds of youths can go for activities and programs is seen as a benefit to the town, to others who may not have a personal need for it, it is an example of public sector profligacy. I always try to keep in mind that whatever success I have today, I had many people helping me out along the way, be it soccer coaches, Scoutmasters, or civic or community leaders. There are many that do not have this; to paraphrase what my grandfather always taught me and to quote John F. Kennedy, “to those whom much is given, much is expected.” <u></u><u></u></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:8.0pt;font-family:"Verdana","sans-serif";color:#000040"><u></u> <u></u></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:8.0pt;font-family:"Verdana","sans-serif";color:#000040">Policy decisions should be evaluated with all known and available facts, not made based upon a ‘one size fits all’ series of pledges or committments. I believe we all want a Riverdale Park is a great place to live, work, and play and personally I will continue to judge each and every situation individually as it comes up and make the most informed decisions I can possibly make. It is how I run my businesses, it is how I run my personal finances, and it is how I try to govern. <u></u><u></u></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:8.0pt;font-family:"Verdana","sans-serif";color:#000040"><u></u> <u></u></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:8.0pt;font-family:"Verdana","sans-serif";color:#000040">It is entirely true that the town does have long-term annual debt payments in the neighborhood of 125k/year. After refinancing these obligations to take advantage of historically low rates last year (i.e. 3%), this does represent approximately 2% of our annual budget. <u></u><u></u></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:8.0pt;font-family:"Verdana","sans-serif";color:#000040"><u></u> <u></u></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:8.0pt;font-family:"Verdana","sans-serif";color:#000040">If you believe the town is on the wrong path, come to meetings, voice your opinion in a forum other than this, ask to be appointed onto committees, volunteer to mentor the youth, or even run for office. <u></u><u></u></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:8.0pt;font-family:"Verdana","sans-serif";color:#000040"><u></u> <u></u></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:8.0pt;font-family:"Verdana","sans-serif";color:#000040">Respectfully,<u></u><u></u></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:8.0pt;font-family:"Verdana","sans-serif";color:#000040"><u></u> <u></u></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:8.0pt;font-family:"Verdana","sans-serif";color:#000040">Jonathan<u></u><u></u></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:8.0pt;font-family:"Verdana","sans-serif";color:#000040"><u></u> <u></u></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:8.0pt;font-family:"Verdana","sans-serif";color:#000040">Councilman Ward 1<u></u><u></u></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:8.0pt;font-family:"Verdana","sans-serif";color:#000040">Chairman Econmic Development Committee<u></u><u></u></span></p><p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:8.0pt;font-family:"Verdana","sans-serif";color:#000040">4711 Oliver Street<u></u><u></u></span></p>
<p class="MsoNormal"><span style="font-size:8.0pt;font-family:"Verdana","sans-serif";color:#000040"><u></u> <u></u></span></p></div></div><br>_______________________________________________<br>
TownTalk mailing list<br>
To post to the list, send mail to <a href="mailto:TownTalk@riverdale-park.org">TownTalk@riverdale-park.org</a><br>
<a href="mailto:TownTalk-request@riverdale-park.org">TownTalk-request@riverdale-park.org</a> is for automated subscription processing only<br>
<a href="http://riverdale-park.org/mailman/listinfo/towntalk" target="_blank">http://riverdale-park.org/mailman/listinfo/towntalk</a><br>
<br>
For more information about Riverdale Park, visit <a href="http://www.riverdaleparkmd.info" target="_blank">http://www.riverdaleparkmd.info</a><br>
<br></blockquote></div><br>