BAWG Report
Fifty-five people attended the Tredyffrin Township’s Budget Advisory Working Group (BAWG) meeting last night. The BAWG sought input from Tredyffrinites as to their preferences for containing the budget problem. So, after a brief overview of some BAWG activity, and collection of the Tredyffrin Community Survey, the mike was turned over to residents for comment.
Ideas from Residents
- Against tax increase
- Placing the library in the high priority section with police and fire departments.
- Against earned income tax (EIT) [3 people], and questions surrounding its definition
- Prioritizing government services, then reducing or removing lowest priorities
- Ending the leaf recycling program, another recommended homeowners recycle their own leaves.
- Doing a financial threat analysis to plan for financial collapses
- Pooling of school district and township resources
- Find cost saving ideas like not printing brochures, ending leaf composting
- Modernizing health benefits, possibly adding flexible spending accounts. Lower the health care premiums by making deductibles higher.
- Waiting on doing capital projects.
- A request for township lists of its resources
- A request for the TESB budget exercises which were very similar to this.
- A request for criterion used in making decisions about the budget: Who would be affected? How much money would be saved? What percent of the budget does it represent?
Please send your email comments to BAWG directly at: tredyffrinbawg@gmail.com. They earnestly seek our input, and if you visit their website, you may sign up for their updates.
TT BoS – BAWG JUNE 10
Please Attend
Wednesday, June 10, 2009
at 7:30 p.m.
at The Tredyffrin Twp. Bldg.
1100 DuPortail Road, Berwyn, PA 19312-1079
The Tredyffrin Township Budget Advisory Working Group (BAWG)
Remember the Tredyffrin Twp. Board of Supervisors’ (TT BoS) Budget Meetings in Nov/Dec 2008…
which increased our taxes for the second year in a row? Since then, the TT BoS created the Budget Advisory Working Group (BAWG) [http://www.tredyffrinbawg.com], and appointed the volunteers.
The BAWG will hold a public meeting on Wed. June 10 at 7:30 p.m. in the Tredyffrin Twp Building to gather public input. There is a possibility that an Earned Income Tax (EIT) could be reconsidered by the group.
I hope you will bring a friend, and join me in giving the clear message that increasing our taxes is NOT an option, and that Tredyffrin Township must work within its budgetary boundaries just like we do. I hope you will get involved – democracy works best when normal folks like us are involved - and budgets need not be regarded as overly-complicated.
- Evelyn “E.J.” Richter, A Pen in The Woods
P.S. Things that may be discussed include:
- Salaries, benefits and longevity pay for staff. (Non-union staff received longevity pay, cost of living increase, and 100% medical coverage for 2009.)
- Size and scope of the police department
- Subsidy levels for fire companies, libaries and the Woodland School
- Outsourcing of Township services (think park and vehicle maintenance)
- Sidewalks
- Taxes, user fees
- What services are most important to local residents?
- What are residents’ views on the current and future tax burden?
- Would residents prefer to increase taxes in order to maintain or expand services?
- What services would local residents be willing to see reduced or eliminated?
We’re Invited!
The Tredyffrin Township Supervisors have appointed a volunteer group, The Budget Advisory Working Group, or BAWG, to advise them, and BAWG will hold an open meeting for TT residents.
Please Attend
Wednesday, June 10, 2009
at 7:30 p.m.
at The Tredyffrin Twp. Bldg.
1100 DuPortail Road, Berwyn, PA 19312-1079
The Tredyffrin Township Budget Advisory Working Group (BAWG)
TT BAWG requests your feedback…
What services are most important to local residents? What are residents’ views on the current and future tax burden? Would residents prefer to increase taxes in order to maintain or expand services? What services would local residents be willing to see reduced or eliminated?
See you there!
- A Pen
Panhandle Civic Association Meeting w/TT BoS
A Pen thanks…
The Panhandle Civic Association’s leadership for organizing this meeting. We hope for your success in improving this matter.
What: Notice Of Special Panhandle Civic Association Meeting
When: Tuesday, January 13, 2009 at 7:30 p.m.
Where: First Baptist Church, 1012 Upper Gulph Road, Wayne, PA 19087
Who: Three Tredyffrin Supervisors, Paul Olson, Bob Lamina and Judy DiFillippo
Why: To discuss the $2.4 million deficit written into the approved budget for 2009. In order to balance this budget, it is planned to deplete the reserve funds for the second year in a row by this amount. With the reduced income expected this year, and the economy in disarray, fiscal responsibility calls for further reduction in spending in 2009 to preserve the reserve fund for emergencies.
Please join us for an opportunity to express your thoughts on this dilemma. Taxes would have to be raised 38% to balance the budget.
Representatives from other civic associations are also invited.
Structural Deficit Defined
“Structural Deficit” is a misnomer currently used by the Tredyffrin Township Board of Supervisors. It is meant to convey that there is a deficit, it is years old, and it is not their fault. Instead, they should call it a “Chronic Deficit.” Since, they have confirmed that this deficit has been around for years, and though they knew this, they continued spending. That is the definition of fiscal irresponsibility – knowingly spending more than you’ll receive.
Budgets do not not get out of control when Supervisors are careful with money. They go haywire when Supervisors foolishly mistake their “wants” for actual “needs.” We could benefit from this recession if Supervisors would reflect on how they waste our money.
The fiscally responsible thing to do is trim the budget without delay. It is the Supervisors’ most important responsibility, and we elected them to do it. We did not elect a citizen’s panel of their choosing. We elected them.
-A Pen
Tredyffrin Twp. Government Bureaucrats
“Your dad and I are exactly the opposite. He’s a government bureaucrat, and I am a capitalist. We get paid, and our success is measured in opposite behaviors.
He gets paid to spend money and hire people. The more he spends and the more people he hires, the larger his organization becomes. In the government, the larger his organization, the more he is respected.
On the other hand, within my organization, the fewer people I hire and the less money I spend, the more I am respected by my investors. That’s why I don’t like government people. They have different objectives from most business people. As the government grows, more and more tax dollars will be needed to support it.”
From Rich Dad, Poor Dad by Robert T. Kiyosaki. Warner Books, 1997, p. 96. ISBN: 0-446-67745-0
–
Government Bureaucrats…
One stated at 11/17/08 meeting that they would feel “uncomfortable” facing non-union TT employees if there were no pay raise for 2009.
One agreed on 11/17/08 to 9 recommendations to reduce the budget for 2009, only if a reverse -911 system and 2 extra police officers were worked into the budget. This occurred after the Superintendent of Police, had stated he could do without them. (This Supervisor later found funding for the reverse-911 system within the County – a program we in Tredyffrin would have paid twice for.)
One said the recommendations were “draconian” at the 11/17/08 meeting, and for referred to items like music in the park as “quality of life issues.” The quality of life issues that TT manages are: police, fire, and roads.
The last Supervisor lamented at the 12/1/08 meeting a non-union employee salary freeze for 2009. With the way he carried on, one would think the BoS’s had decided to terminate all 50 of them. (That would be draconian!) It is only a one-year salary freeze , and in a recession a salary freeze equals a raise, because costs of goods will decrease while the salary is maintained. One of my friends was told recently she will get no salary increase for three years.
Frustrated? Help Us! Stand with us at the next meeting.
We are doing everything we can to affect a change with this BoS’s, and we need your help. The Board of Supervisors (BoS)’s heard many people object to a tax hike at the 11/17/08 meeting, but many of them were unswayed. Come to the meeting: speak at the mike, bring a small or large poster, or just sit quietly. Let’s not let them stop us from using the mike until each citizen has had an opportunity to voice their opinion. It’s our last chance.
TT BoS meeting is on December 15 at 7:30 p.m. at the Township Building on DuPortail Rd. Our goal: standing-room only. Get your friends and neighbors at the meeting. Call them on the phone. If you will be at the meeting, please place a comment.
-A Pen
P.S. If you are good with numbers, look over the TT 2009 Budget Presentation available as a PDF. I hope at least one of these links works for you.
You Are Cordially Invited
Your presence is requested at the
Tredyffrin Township Board of Supervisors Meeting
Finalizing the 2009 Proposed Budget
on
December 15, 2008
beginning at 7:30 p.m., ending ?
at
Keene Hall, 1100 DuPortail Road, Tredyffrin
If you don’t want a TT Tax increase, with a scoop of TESD Tax increase, topped with a Cherry – Chester County Tax Increase, please come! We’d love to see you there, though some of the BoS’s won’t! Many of your neighbors spoke against any tax increase at the 11/17/08 TT BoS meeting, but they’re still planning to raise taxes.
Attire: Dress is casual, but show your spirit – wear Structural Deficit Red!
Activities: Listen to the BoS’s. Find out who is naughty or nice. Step up to the karaoke microphone – raise your voice. Bring a small (or large) sign with a “no-tax increase” message, in case public comments are cut short as on 11/17/08. Or sit quietly, and witness the TT government spending your hard-earned wages.
R.S.V.P. To be certain your elected officials get your message, please contact all of the following: tredyffrin@tredyffrin.org, bos@tredyffrin.org, and 610) 644-1400. You may also leave a comment on this blog. :)
- A Pen
Tredyffrin Board of Supervisors Meeting 12/1/08
A Pen thanks…
Mr. Paul Olsen for stating that BoS’s have “an obligation to keep financial sanity in our township. It’s our responsibility.”
Mr. Bob Lamina for continuing to champion lower taxes.
Regarding 12/1/08 BoS Meeting
In the comments that have been made in the last two Tredyffrin Twp. BoS meetings regarding the TT Budget, I have not heard anyone degrade the quality of the TT employees, nor disrespect them. So, when Mr. Bill DeHaven said that the budget cuts are “disrespectful” of employees or that the budget “beats the crap out of them,” he is being dishonest, dramatic, and diverting the topic. (Same goes for Mr. Mark DiFeliciantonio’s comment last week that the budget cuts were “draconian.”) In the real world, an employee’s salary has little to do with respect, and much to do the value of the job. An employer could be respectful or not, and still pay a fair wage. And employers have an obligation to keep their spending within budget, or eventually face bankruptcy. What solutions did Mr. DeHaven promote? None, except to try to make responsible BoS’s feel guilty about doing the right thing – reigning in spending.
Trimming waste from a budget cut is a business move, nothing else. We’ve heard repeatedly that there is a structural problem with the TT budget. It consistently spends more than it receives. Responsible? Not at all. Every gardener knows that proper pruning increases the health of a plant. Same with proper budgeting. Same with sports teams, household budgets, clothing in closets, etc.
In tonight’s meeting and the last meeting (11/17/08), it was implied by some that TT public employees are rare and precious, and cannot be replaced. I suspect it would be fairly easy to find people to fill TT openings.
In the last meeting’s public discussion with the BoS, it was revealed that there is no salary range and no salary cap. So, with longevity bonuses plus yearly 3.5% cost-of-living increases, an employee who sticks around long enough could make much more than the market rate. I appreciate that the BoS’s work with these employees, and have come to adore them, but let’s not forget that the BoS’s are in the position of supervising. They are in charge, and, like it or not, they must make the proper decisions regardless their feelings.
Holding the salaries of these employees at the current rate for 2009 is a sound business decision. We are in a recession – negative inflation. When employees are given cost-of-living increases, it’s because inflation is present. Looking on the bright side, when an employee’s salary stays the same during a recession, he or she is fortunate! Many people are losing jobs and pay. Also, since TT employees never worry about their government going out of business, they’ve got true job security. Good fortune, again! Consider this: if a cost-of-living increase is always in order with inflation, why isn’t a cost-of-living decrease in order with deflation?
Hey BoS’s and government officials. Stop picking on taxpayers! We work very hard, are likeable, and are feeling unappreciated. We won’t be able to guilt you at the office with our long faces, but some of us are feeling oppressed by all the layers of taxes upon us: Township, School Board, County, State, Federal, purchases and savings, real estate, etc.
- A Pen
