Steve Mensing, Editor
♦ The City of Salisbury, N.C.’s “Recommended Budget” for Fiscal Year 2015-2016 PDF. Be glad this is the recommended budget and not the final draft. The city council in year’s past would respond back and forth on “script” making a big fuss about how they would pair down taxes and fees put forth in the recommended budget. After all they are the noble champions of the taxpayers. The final budget would still sap the poor marks hunkering down in “The City of Make Believe”.
A casual run through of the “Recommended Budget” for Fiscal Year 2015-2016 should send shivers through tax, utility, and fee payers and even in persons who find pleasure in taking a magnifying glass to the city’s “magic math”. Let’s take a look at some of the more important numbers that jump off the PDF. pages.
• A proposed property tax hike of $1.49. The Fiscal Year 2014-2015 approved budget had a whopping $1.95 hike. The city will generally come up with an excuse for the hike, blaming it on outside entities like the state lawmakers. Hopefully city council will make a “show” of reducing the property tax.
• The budget shows the city’s municipal fiber optic network will hike its monthly subscription for its already over-priced Fibrant TV packages. Fibrant in past months announced this coming hike, saying it was due rising costs by TV providers. Its easy to deduce that Fibrant TV without TV everywhere and with rising prices is going to lose TV customers in a crowded field of DirecTV, TWC, At&T U-Verse, and Dish and to “Cord Cutting” utilizing digital antennas and IPTV devices like ROKU 3.
• If you like feeling stung, check out the residential Stormwater fee going up $.75 cents to $5.00. Better yet check out if you actually have an actual stormwater runoff. Many persons living outside of “8 block” and especially in forcibly annexed areas tell us about their “phantom runoffs”. If you are getting clipped by the city, show up at city council’s public commentary and tell them to produce. We’re moving toward municipal election time. This is an excellant time to start calling out the five life forms inhabiting city council.
• Instead of increasing water and sewer fees, Rowan-Salisbury Utilities will whack its customers with an increased “tap” fee.
• While $78,000 is being put aside for the Salisbury Police getting tasers, bulletproof vests, and radar units there doesn’t appear to be any figures for much required raises to hold on to a rapidly diminishing and inexperienced police force.
If you are a tax or utility payer in Salisbury, you would be wise to go through the “Recommended Budget” and to attend the public hearing on Tuesday down at City Council for the city’s recommended budget.
The City’s Recommended Budget for Fiscal Year 2015-2016 PDF.:
