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Council members in 'The Twilight Zone’
I strongly recommend that everyone come to Becky Strickland and Alicia Flowers’ very own live version of “The Twilight Zone” — the place where rationality and logic go to die — at the Summerfield budget hearing, 6:30 p.m. June 9 at the Community Center.

In the latest episode, Strickland and Flowers proposed eliminating the property tax for next year in Summerfield.

My grandfather always told me talk is cheap and that you should measure a person by her/his actions.

When presented with the opportunity to lower the property tax last year, Strickland and Flowers both voted no.

Moreover, they are faced with the bothersome issue of what eliminating a property tax would mean for the town’s future. Summerfield will lose its share of the sales tax for not charging a property tax per state law.

Additionally, the town faces the real possibility of having to take over the road maintenance in the town. Summerfield has 75 miles of road to maintain at a paving cost of $70,000 per mile. The town would need to set up a road maintenance department or contract with an entity to maintain the roads, which would certainly raise the price. These numbers do not take into account the impact of the new Jordan Lake rules on Summerfield.

Our heroines declare “We will use the money the town has saved to finance our plans.” The plot thickens: The town does not have enough money saved to pay for the roads even if the town had no other obligations.

As our episode closes, Strickland and Flowers are trying to determine what they can cut from the budget to save at most for a family $20 a month.

Will it be the parks? No, because the contracts have already been signed. Will it be the Comprehensive Plan? Maybe. Will it be the ball fields? Possibly, since neither seems to support them now.

What about cutting services the elderly? Maybe. What about much higher property taxes in the future? They say, “That’s the next council’s problem.”

This statement clues us in on the next few episodes. Yes, there will be higher property taxes. Strickland and Flowers are going to have to explain exactly what they are doing on the council if they aren’t planning for Summerfield’s future.

Stay tuned to “The Twilight Zone,” where rationality and logic go to die.

— Alexie Doggett, Summerfield

Taxpayers can stand up to Summerfield council
I agree with Jeff Johnson’s statement in his letter (Guilford Record, May 17): “We need our elected officials to be more concerned about helping their constituents and much less focused on self-serving motives like being re-elected.”

I wish Becky Strickland and Alicia Flowers felt the same way. If they truly cared about their constituents, they would have asked the cameras to wait until the budget was released, and they could have an open and honest discussion about the budget.

Why should I or any citizen believe Strickland and Flowers have the town’s best interest at heart? This isn’t the first time Strickland has gone behind the council’s back when she didn’t like the majority vote. She wrote a letter to the PARTF grant, trying to sabotage the town’s chance of getting a matching $500,000 grant for the park.

This time, Flowers and Strickland proposed a property-tax holiday before the budget was even presented by the manager and finance officer. That is like applying for a job without your resume or knowing for which job you are applying.

When some of the council asked how the town would pay for road upkeep, county animal control or the looming Lake Jordan rules, Flowers said that was an unknown and couldn’t be taken into consideration. When asked what would happen if later on the property tax had to be raised, Strickland stated that was a problem for another council.

Isn’t that why we are in the recession — because people were passing the buck? Would teachers still have to take a pay cut if the state administration before had planned for the future?

As a citizen, aren’t you tired of the grandstanding? Aren’t you tired of being called a Summerfield elite because you support some infrastructure in town, ball fields and a park?

I want people to keep their jobs and our housing pricing to come back up. I believe that the budget the manager and financial officer have worked up is our best chance.

I would even like to see more community outreach programs like the senior program built into the budget. But, most of all, I want my council to do its best to act in the best interest of the town and respect the contributions of all Summerfield citizens. I would like to see open and honest discussion on issues.

Let the town council know your opinions on the budget at a public hearing at 6:30 June 9.

We live in one of the greatest towns in the state, with some of the best talent and greatest people around.

— Clark Doggett, Summerfield

Summerfield needs a property tax holiday
Summerfield decided “Town sources of revenue are not being significantly impacted by the economy at this point,” and presented the usual $2.8 million budget continuing to levy property taxes. The economic hardships people face are not considered.

Town Council Members Alicia Flowers and Becky Strickland recently voted for a property tax holiday. Mark Brown, Bob Williams, Dena Barnes and John Wray all said “no.” The majority said they must continue the tax “because it is established,” warning gloom and doom without levying taxes.

Last year, Flowers and Strick­land showed how easy it would be to lower the budget and eliminate a town tax. The others said no and would not even delete items that were budgeted twice by mistake.
John Wray said, “It costs too much staff time to lower the budget.”

Population has only grown 5.5 percent since 2004, yet annual spending grew from $400,000 to $1.1-plus million per year.

This year’s budget includes a 2 percent raise for employees (6 percent last year), hiring a full-time planner, part-time assistant and a historical curator. Michael Brandt said, “Construction of new housing units has all but disappeared.” Yet he is going to hire a planner.

The town brags, “Summerfield lowers town taxes 14 percent,” as they lower the tax rate from 3.5 to 3 cents. Truth be told, 3 cents is unnecessary.

Property Tax History: 1998 to 2004, for seven years, the Town levied no property tax and reserves grew to $6 million.

In 2004, the town levied a 10.5-cent town tax, equal to a 15 percent increase in property tax bills. Because of the public pressure, the rate came down to 5 cents, 3.9 cents, 3.5 cents and now proposed 3 cents. From 2004, the town cash reserves increased from $6 million to $9 million cash today with $11.5 million in assets.

Since 2004, the town annually budgeted $2 million to $4 million, while the town spends less than 60 percent of its “budget.” This fiscal year’s “budget” will probably have a $1.7 million surplus, 60 percent below “budget.”

A $400,000 cut from the proposed budget means no need for a town property tax in 2009. A few ways to reduce the budget:

• Reduce personnel
• reduce Brandt contingencies of $500,000 and $125,000 for miscellaneous park costs
• less discretionary travel
• budget in line with past spending

Summerfield officials say they are frugal by spending half of their “budget,” but year after year the “budget” represents an increase of 4 to 15 percent in your property tax bill.

Does Summerfield need to levy a property tax to increase reserves? No. The people of Summerfield need a break and no property tax burden.

— Gail A. Dunham, Summerfield