George Wenschhof
When I sat down to talk with City of Frederick, Maryland
alderman Michael O'Connor (D), he indicated he would review by using a "is
it reasonable" test when looking at budget requests.
Michael went on to tell me he "...was not looking to
see smaller or larger government, but rather his goal was to have effective
government."
Overall, O'Connor has liked how the process has unfolded
this year and appreciated the opportunity for input aldermen had been given as
Mayor Randy McClement (R) prepared his budget.
He was especially pleased it appeared consensus had been
reached among the aldermen and the mayor to increase and forward fund street
improvements, an area in the budget which had been hit hard in recent years as
state funding had decreased during the downturn in the economy.
The move to a tax differential system from the tax equity
program, was another change O'Connor was happy to see. The change will result in city residents
receiving a lower county tax bill and a slightly higher city tax bill. However, overall city residents will receive
a reduction of 4 cents from their current city tax rate.
Previously, city residents paid a full county rate for
taxes and the county would reimburse the city for duplication of services. The
alderman felt tax differential was a more fair system, but felt the formula
used for determining duplication of services with the county still needed to be
tweaked.
As to the underfunded pension and other post employment
benefit programs, O'Connor wanted to see the committees appointed by the mayor
provide suggestions after taking a systematic review and evaluation. Although, some aldermen have criticized the
mayor for not acting sooner on this problem, Michael said "slow is better
than not moving at all."
In regard to the change from a part-time code enforcement
position requested by the mayor to a full time position advocated by some of
the aldermen, O'Connor wants to look at the overall cost, which would likely
include benefits for a full time position.
The city plans to adopt the budget and set the tax rate
during the May 17 mayor and board meeting.
A schedule for the public meetings scheduled on the
budget follows below. The meetings can
also be viewed on local public TV channel 99 or watched online at
www.cityoffrederick.com
April 4th - 7:00 p.m.
• Department of Public Works
April 11th – 7:00 p.m.
• Police Department
April 18th – 7:00 p.m.
• Airport
• Economic Development,
• Weinberg Center,
• Parking,
• Facilities
• Community Action Agency
April 25th – 7:00 p.m.
• Engineering
• Planning
• Parks & Recreation
May 2nd – 7:00 p.m.
• Finance/Budget & Purchasing/Human Resources
• Legal
• Mayor’s Office
May 9th – 7:00 p.m.
• Open agenda
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Sunday, April 15, 2012
O'Connor Takes Reasonable Approach to Budget
Posted by George Wenschhof at 9:00 AM
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