Money-Grab in Stanford
Stanford, Kentucky is facing a $200,000 budget shortfall, and just voted 5-1 for a 92% payroll (income) tax increase. The tax increase is projected to net about $625,000.
Not only is the tax increase for an amount substantially more than the shortfall they seek to cover, the city expects events to cover the shortfall anyway:
They are hoping that residents in an area around Stanford Elementary School will vote in November to be annexed into the city. There are about 131 homes, a handful of businesses and about 300 people in the targeted area, and bringing them into the city would generate an estimated $200,000 in new property taxes and franchise fees.
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The city could also save significant money with the retirement of two police officers. One is set call it quits at the end of the year and another is considering it. The officers might return to work part-time, keeping the department fully staffed but saving the city their full-time salaries and benefits, Miracle said.
Scotty Ernest, the only council member to oppose this blatant money grab, offered some come constructive recommendations for budget cuts, like the $10,000 raise the council had just given the mayor:
While others on the council suggested ways the city might be able to cut expenses, it was Ernst who pushed for slashing the budget instead of waiting to see if annexation and officer retirement might stave off the tax increase.
"If we have to cut, let's cut now," Ernst said.
But Ernst's motion to save $45,000 by doing away with the city's Main Street and tourism programs died for lack of a second. He said he saw no evidence that efforts to focus on the arts as a way to revive downtown is paying any dividends, especially since Sandy Swett, the driving force behind the arts program, is leaving soon.
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Miracle argued that the new downtown direction is gaining momentum in the six months it has been in existence and needs more time to prove its worth. Ernst then took a shot at Miracle, whose pay will increase 50 percent to $30,000 a year in the new budget.
"You're the mayor getting the $10,000 raise -- you can take it over," Ernst said of the Main Street program.
How much do you expect that this tax increase is permanent, regardless of whether the annexation takes place? We give a gold star to Mr. Ernest for looking out for the taxpayer in Lincoln County.
