Using the Auditor of Public Accounts Reports again and focusing on the time frame from fiscal years 1996 thru 2009….
- Revenue from local taxes and fees increased by 120.06%
- Expenditures increased by 120.32%
Expenses:
- Government Admin Expenses increased by 156.35%
- Public Safety Expenses increased by 234.30%
- Public Works Expenses increased by 128.30%
- Parks & Recreation Expenses increased by 315.24%
Revenue:
- Real Property Revenue increased by 156.20%
- Public Service Corporation Revenue increased by 34.39%
- Machinery and Tools Revenue increased by 178.34%
- Penalties decreased by 36.53%
- Interest increased by 0.79%
- Other Local Taxes increased by 173.44%
- Permits, Fees, & Licenses increased by 241.76%
- Charges for Services increased by 374.55%
- Miscellaneous Revenue increased by 1,499.73%
Specific to Local Revenue:
- Local Sales and Use Tax increased by 87.14%
- Business License Taxes increased by 264.35%
- Franchise License Tax dropped by 18.69%
- Hotel and Motel Taxes increased by 359.70%
- Restaurant and Food Taxes increased by 192.83%
Safety Expenses:
- Law Enforcement and Traffic Control expenses increased by 223.16%
- Fire and Rescue Services expenses increased by 322.66%
- Inspections expenses increased by 176.02%
- Overall increase for services 234.30%
Services:
- Maintenance of Highways, etc. expenses increased by 111.23%
- Sanitation and Waste Removal expenses increased by 200.67%
- Maintenance, Bldgs. and Grounds expenses increased by 42.08%
- Total Increase in expenses of 128.30
- Revenue from Local Charges for these services increased by 395.33%
Parks and Recreation:
- Expenses increased by 319.59%
- Revenues from local charges for services increased by 206.04%
Government Operation:
- Personal Services expenses increased by 202.32%
- Fringe Benefits expenses increased by 332.50%
- Contractural Services expenses increased by 287.43%
Gross Debt:
- Total Gross Debt of the town increased by 205.02%
- Other General Government debt increased by 221.49%
- Enterprise Activities debt increased by 181.36%
- Unfunded Debt has increased by 205.47%
Well, there are the numbers. Feel free to go to the APA site and check for yourselves. Do remember however, that these numbers do not include any of the 2010 fiscal year information where a more than $2 million deficit is hanging. Maybe there is something to be said for Mr. Lemley’s ‘pay as you go’ philosophy that didn’t stay around after he left.
The simple fact is that if the ‘goes out’ is higher than the ‘comes in’ things have to change. Keeping this 14 year pattern going in the same direction is only going to worsen the problem. Town Council needs to get involved in decisions involving expenditures and more aggressively monitor what is spent and where. The Town Council get routing reports from the Town Manager and absolutely nothing in this article should come as a surprise to any of them. After all, it only took me a couple of hours to get all the reports and set up multiple spreadsheets for analysis and I am not a high paid professional. In fact, I did it for free. Now, what will the Town Council do about the budget, expenses, and revenue?
