Head down town and you’ll see an eerie quiet: retail shops, restaurants, realtors, museums, even churches … closed to normal traffic. Many experts believe the economic impact from the pandemic could last for the next couple of years! Some businesses have already closed; others are teetering; most are lowering expectations … and fearful of the survival of their livelihoods. Annapolis thrives on residential traffic and visitors. Both are down dramatically and many residents, furloughed from their jobs, have cut spending. The only bright spot is lower gasoline prices … if you have somewhere to go!
However, the City government is moving their FY21 Operating Budget as if nothing has changed. Recently, AAMC, the “most front line” in the pandemic fight, was facing layoffs, furloughs and cut-backs. They get it! The State announced it expects up to $2 Billion lost revenues through June 30 and up to $4 Billion for FY21! They will cut spending by $120 million this year, alone. Even New York City’s Mayor Bill DiBlasio said “everything is on the table, including layoffs and furloughs”, during that City’s budget negotiations. So why doesn’t Mayor Buckley and the Council take a similar pro-active stance?
In early May, the City’s Finance Committee sent its FY21 budget recommendations to the full Council. Since Council meetings are held “virtually”, citizens can only comment in writing, rather than in public session. This year’s pandemic has “virtually” closed the doors for any tax-payer input. The Covid-19 crisis has turned Council meetings into “Hollywood Squares”, without the laughs.
But while the topic of “furloughs and layoffs” was brought up, it was quickly dismissed. Alderwoman Finlayson said “it’s our job to protect City employees!”. “Kindness” is nice, but fiscal responsibility is what we expect from our elected officials … and we are not getting it!
Four Things You Need to Know About the City’s Proposed FY21 Budget
- No layoffs or furloughs. Despite the incredible job loss in Annapolis and beyond, none of those job losses or cut-backs include City employees;
- No reductions to salary for City Staff or a hiring freeze. While there was brief discussion of a “20% (or even 10%) pay cut”, there was no Council support for either. Payroll and benefits will increase 8.3%! And no hiring freeze, while there are new positions in the Mayor’s Office;
- The City staff continues to grow. The population of Annapolis has grown less than 4% since 1990, but City staff has sky-rocketed more than 100%! The FY21 budget says the City has “613 employees”. But then adds: “does not include all FTEs” (full-time equivalents). When these are added, the total FTEs is a budget-busting 676 employees, consultants and contractors.
- Property taxes aren’t going down this year. You may have read Debbie Dillon’s excellent Guest column (Capital, May 31) about the City’s plan to vote against “constant yield”. City property taxes have increased a whopping 21% since 2018. Because we are in the final year of a 3-year State Assessment Cycle, the Tax Rate on real property was set when values were rising. As a result, the City will receive an additional $1.536 million in property taxes. Because of this, the Tax Rate should actually DECREASE from 73.8 cents per $100 of assessed value to 71.65 cents to provide a “constant yield”. But the Council dislikes making cuts, so they will vote to waive the Code requirement and keep – rather than reduce — the tax rate, unless tax-payers say “enough”!
What can you do? Call, write or email the Mayor and your Alderperson – this week –and tell them to (1) withdraw ID-141-20 and comply with “constant yield” and (2) seriously consider layoffs and furloughs for FY21. It’s the ONLY way to improve our City’s fiscal health.
Bill Kardash is Chairman of Annapolitans for a Better Community (ABC)
He can be reached at [email protected]
