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Balancing Montgomery County’s 2012 Budget
Written by Larry Roeder, Editor
2011-12-08

 

        Montgomery Country residents are trying to recover from the shock of the proposed 2012 County Budget and the threats of either absorbing unrealistic cuts in county services or an exorbitant tax increase.
        The budget, as presented, cannot stand. The commissioners know it and the people who prepared the budget know it as well. What they need, in order to move forward, is someone to blame.
        Who can they blame? Well, the commissioners and their executive staff have launched a campaign to allow the residents and taxpayers to vent and tell them why we can’t do this or that. If enough people complain, they can lay blame on the people by saying “We raised taxes because you wanted it – whatever it is.” Or, we closed the parks because a majority of people said no to a tax increase.
        There must be an agreement by the current warring parties who make up the Montgomery County Commissioners and their immediate staff. That’s what the residents and taxpayers of Montgomery County want. Park your Democrat and Republican monikers as well as your ego at the door and come to the table ready to work for the people and make the necessary compromise of cuts and tax increases to make the budget work. 
        While you’re at it, how about adding one more item into the thought process of balancing the budget; sell some idle county property to offset some of those cuts and the tax increase.
        Montgomery County and its government branches own about 500 properties in the “Key to the Keystone State.” Among those properties are buildings to house government and the courts, provide education and subsidize housing for the poor. The properties are used to provide services for the elderly or infirmed, house prisoners, preserve open space and host parks, recreation and historical sites and provide other needed services.
        But there are many properties owned by the County because … well, just because. The fact that the commissioner’s highly-paid administrators failed to broach the subject of selling some of those underused properties in their budget presentation, in order to close the projected $40 million gap, is conspicuous by its absence. We’re not talking about parks or open space but properties that represent bad decisions, perhaps based on good intentions that will never benefit the residents of Montgomery County.
        Yes, we know that in a down market, now is not the time to sell. But, why can’t the bargain price of some of these properties be used to entice businesses to move into the county or expand a business that’s already here, create jobs and hire local workers (who will pay local taxes) and bolster a local property tax-base (payable to the municipality, school district and county) where that asset currently sits as tax-exempt?
        We encourage readers to log onto www.montcopa.org and check out the properties in our County’s portfolio. While you will be satisfied with most, you will scratch your head at many others asking yourself questions like; why do we own that? What is it used for? What was the purpose of buying it? Why wasn’t the sale of this property presented by the budget preparers to help ease the harsh cuts? Why didn’t’ the Commissioners, at least, ask about it as an alternative to the ridiculous budget cuts and insane tax increase?
        Administrators; please don’t insult the taxpayers by saying all of these properties represent sound investments in the county and we need to keep them all.
        The taxpayers can make that decision for themselves. After all, you are asking them to take the responsibility of balancing the 2012 budget.

 

 

 

 

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