BJ Murphy: Kinston City Council can make amends Tuesday evening
Over the past week, Neuse News has reported on some local government budgets. The annual budget process is the key time to give the professional staff and manager the most important goals for the upcoming year.
Having worked on eight of them in a community with a shrinking tax base, population, and property valuations I can attest to how difficult this process can be. The annual exercise also proved challenging while holding to exceptional standards for police, fire, and other services and trying to maintain the same number of roads, power lines, water and sewer lines. We raised and lowered utility rates during those eight years and never had a property tax rate increase.
Never have I ever been so taken aback by the self-absorbed lust for personal gain by elected officials than what our Kinston City Council has done over the past few weeks. They are issuing zero pay raises to staff, padding their own pockets, and raising property taxes all in the same budget. How can I be so certain of that choice of words? Listen to the 17-minute audio feed Neuse News published just yesterday. The Councilmembers justify their actions with comments like:
“I’ve been on the council that I know of getting the same pay ever since I’ve been here.”
“Money is not an issue for me. I believe every human being deserves to be paid for what they’re worth, and this has been a job.”
“You’re going to get slapped just because it's presented in the budget. $21,000 overall is less than the equivalent of the least paid staff person in the city.”
The Kinston City Council is expected to raise property taxes by $0.04 per $100 of valuation at tonight's meeting. And as Neuse News Correspondent Kristy Bock reported the raise in question was already voted on by the Council at a May Budget Worksession, the only vote taken during that four-hour meeting.
A few points to ponder:
1. Considering that it was the only vote at the Budget Worksession assures the citizens how large a priority the majority of the Council places on their own salaries. Mind you councilmembers volunteer for these roles to "serve the community".
2. Only one of the six elected officials stood up for the sanitation workers, police officers, and taxpayers during that discussion. Kudos to Mayor Pro Tem Felicia Solomon for standing in the gap.
3. Sadly for the second year in a row they have sought these personal increases, yet this year's discussion is distracting from the fact that they are also raising property taxes. The cost to the taxpayers if approved would be $670,000.
4. Hopefully, the council has learned that even when you are not at City Hall or on Facebook Live that your words have an impact. I suspect most were unaware that their words were being recorded and the public would have a right to inspect them later. Essentially, they are missing the point of serving the best interest of the community.
Truthfully, I could go on, but I want to leave you with two thoughts. The first is despite the fact the Kinston City Council has already voted on their increases, they could amend the budget tonight by stripping the salaries and allowances back to the FY20 funding and passing a revised budget.
The second is this is a municipal election year. Mayor Don Hardy, Councilmember Robert Swinson IV, and Councilmember Kristal Suggs are all up for reelection should they decide to run. Filing for those seats opens at noon on Friday, July 2nd, and ends at noon on Friday, July 16th.
I find the timing on their persistence of getting more of your tax dollars in their pocket in an election year while simultaneously raising your taxes to be one of the most inept or asinine policymaking decisions I have seen in a long time.
Hopefully, they will make amends with us all tonight, because police officers, sanitation workers, et al. definitely "deserve to get paid what they're worth."