{"id":918,"date":"2015-09-10T09:15:04","date_gmt":"2015-09-10T14:15:04","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/truthinaddison.com\/?page_id=918"},"modified":"2015-09-10T09:15:04","modified_gmt":"2015-09-10T14:15:04","slug":"where-oh-where-did-my-tax-money-go","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"http:\/\/truthinaddison.com\/?page_id=918","title":{"rendered":"Where Oh Where Did My Tax Money Go"},"content":{"rendered":"

Where Oh Where Did My Tax Money Go?
\n<\/strong>By: Susan M. Halpern
\n<\/strong>(Addison councilmember 1992 \u2013 99)<\/strong><\/h3>\n

Where oh where did my tax money go? Where oh where could it be? Well, I know one thing: I\u2019m never going to figure it out from anything Todd Meier writes. And, frankly, that\u2019s appears to be how he and the Council like it.<\/p>\n

The first shot across the bow came in our Town\u2019s August 21, 2015 newsletter, where Meier informed residents of \u201c$850,000 of unanticipated costs.\u201d Huh? Unanticipated??<\/u><\/strong> $850,000???<\/u><\/strong> How does $850,000 sneak up on a Town?<\/p>\n

The answer is, of course, that it doesn\u2019t. Much of that $850,000 is found in the failed policies of the Meier regime. But, admitting that would require Meier to admit that he\u2019s been either wrong or foolish, and that isn\u2019t bound to happen. And, since he controls the Town\u2019s newsletter (and news) with an iron fist, you\u2019re not going to hear about it there either. So what about this $850,000?<\/p>\n

The first thing Addison residents need to know is that we\u2019re going to fund it. Once again this year our taxes are increasing.\u00a0 That\u2019s actual taxes, i.e., the dollars you actually pay (rate x value = $$$$ we pay). Meier is fond of just talking about the rate, which now increases from 56.18 to 57.19. Sounds modest until you consider the second half of the equation, which is property values that have risen by about 7%. It\u2019s hard to see the real result when both numbers move. But if we isolate the 7% value increase in the tax rate number (just multiply 57.19 by 1.07), you can see what Meier and his group are really doing. That shows us that the effect of this budget is to increase the rate to 61.96, keep values as a constant. That number\u2019s much bigger isn\u2019t it? And, if you equate each penny to about $350,000 or so, you can see that property taxes have increased by about $1,750,000.<\/p>\n

Which is 95% of the little bombshell Meier dropped on everyone in August, when he wrote about losing a $1,000,000 tax account and those pesky unexplained and allegedly \u201cunanticipated\u201d $850,000 in expenses.<\/p>\n

That\u2019s right, we\u2019re paying the freight for Meier\u2019s failed policies and his poor conduct towards our staff.<\/p>\n

So, what\u2019s in that $850,000? Who knows! Meier\u2019s isn\u2019t volunteering anything. It most certainly includes the without cause<\/em> dismissal of Lea Dunn. I know, I know, you heard she resigned. Not really. In truth, Lea offered<\/em> to resign, subject to certain conditions, most notably that she would receive her severance package. That\u2019s not a resignation, it\u2019s a termination without cause. Whether it was offered by Lea or demanded by the Council is immaterial; Addison\u2019s residents are paying the freight. Don\u2019t get me wrong, Lea should get battle pay for what she endured as Meier and his sycophants attacked her and undermined her, and were undoubtedly frustrated that Lea\u2019s extraordinary brand of leadership overcame all that, leaving them with absolutely no cause to fire her. But, in terms of dollars, the price is simple, and certainly not unanticipated. $240,000 give or take, plus another $50,000-$60,000 to pay for the national search Meier had been demanding all along. Score: Meier\u2019s Ego $300,000, Taxpayers \u2013 increased taxes. Again.<\/p>\n

What are the other \u201cunanticipated expenses?\u201d Well, the Kanter witch hunt is now approaching what, $200,000?\u00a0 It\u2019s true, we need to button up some of our practices. But there\u2019s a chicken\/egg issue there. When you can\u2019t attract and keep your positions filled, the remaining employees do what they have to do to get the job done. Could they have better processes? Sure. Could it have been achieved without charging the taxpayers almost $200,000? Of course it could have. But Kanter was there for other purposes, and now we have to pay for the Meier witch hunt. And, we still have a completely unresolved compensation issue, so who knows how much more this war on Addison\u2019s staff will cost us.<\/p>\n

What did we hear about on this issue in the co-opted Town newsletter? \u201cCompounded raises in salary,\u201d \u201caggregate compounded salary increases,\u201d and \u201chypothetical employees.\u201d Huh? And a big discussion of the sworn employees, because Meier and his merry band were forced to address that group last year, and at least bring them near the average. After all, you couldn\u2019t have those guys unhappy with Meier up for reelection, right? But the rest of the employees were left out last year, and continue to lag behind benchmark communities.<\/p>\n

And that is the key question: Is Addison\u2019s employee compensation competitive with other benchmark communities or not? The answer is clearly not. Certainly, the last consultant who studied this question gave a resounding NO for an answer. So what did Meier and his group do? They rejected his recommendations. And now they propose using our tax dollars to pay for yet another<\/em> consultant to study the issue. Why? What was wrong with the last, very recent study? Shopping for a different answer?<\/p>\n

Meanwhile, the ongoing debacle of employee compensation remains completely unresolved. Oh sure, they voted to allocate some money they might<\/em> give out for raises. Later. Leaving it up in the air. They\u2019ll decide that in January, presumably when fewer people are watching. What kind of way is this to handle anything?<\/p>\n

Don\u2019t we deserve straight answers on this stuff from these people who proclaimed themselves to be \u201cfiscal conservatives\u201d and promised \u201ctransparency?\u201d<\/p>\n

Speaking of transparency, I hear that another $100,000 or so of the \u201cunanticipated expenses\u201d will fund a full time City Secretary. This new position is needed due to the flood of Open Records Act requests the Town has received. From my observations, both as a citizen and a lawyer, the Town has taken quite an unreasonable line where these requests are concerned. I assume this was an edict from the Council, but that\u2019s all cloaked in secrecy. For those who want to try to get the facts underlying any of Meier\u2019s numerous conclusory statements, be prepared to litigate. The Town is shutting the file cabinets and the facts continue to be hidden. Another score for the Transparency Team.<\/p>\n

$27,000 to a failed appointment, $12,000 for Janelle Moore\u2019s complaint against the police department. More money for lawyers to threaten suit against Addison residents for using an email list Meier is allowed to use for political reasons every damn week. It\u2019s not hard to see how our taxpayer dollars have been wasted. And there was nothing unexpected about any of it.<\/p>\n

What else did we hear? \u201cRevise our policy and process for library cards.\u201d\u00a0 Amazing sleight of hand, read that: reduce access to library facilities.\u00a0 But then they claim, no reduction in services?\u00a0 How does that work?\u00a0 Ah, but state-controlled media.\u00a0 It doesn\u2019t have to work, does it?<\/p>\n

\u201cRevise and update our alarm permit policy and fees.\u201d\u00a0 More sleight of hand.\u00a0 One of those user fees that is essentially just another tax.\u00a0 More increases.\u00a0 But no one needs to know, right?\u00a0 State-controlled media.\u00a0 Doesn\u2019t matter what residents are told, does it?<\/p>\n

When I was on the Council, we addressed such issues directly.\u00a0 We told residents directly what we were doing and explained ourselves.\u00a0 We didn\u2019t hide behind incomprehensible and reprehensible verbal sleight of hand.\u00a0 Our philosophy was true TRANSPARENCY.\u00a0 It starts with telling residents the truth, something desperately needed in Addison.<\/p>\n

Four years under Meir brought us more than a 20% increase in taxes for the first four years, and this year the increase is even more significant. We\u2019ve lost two City Managers, one Assistant CM, the Police Chief, the Assistant Police Chief, the Events Director, and our CFO. We have a divided community and state-controlled media.<\/p>\n

What a sad, sad period in our history.<\/p>\n

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