Online Article Updated

The article that appeared in this morning's edition of The Mercury was inaccurate as my previous entry detailed. Due to my email to the reporter and the editor-in-chief, they corrected the online edition of the story. Here it is... I would like to point out that the prepared statement was a statement from council and I was chosen to read it by council. The statement was thanking the police for their willingness to work with council to save money.

POTTSTOWN — The month of December had already seen 13 layoffs of borough employees to close a budget deficit. On Monday, elected officials turned to the police department to further reduce a double-digit tax increase in 2009.Emerging from a 35-minute executive session behind closed doors, council President David Garner announced a new two-year contract with the Police Department. Officers and their representatives agreed to hold wages and salaries at their current levels.In 2010, wages will increase 3.5 percent.What this means for taxpayers is that a proposed 12 percent tax increase has shrunk to 10.44 percent.
Police services are by far the largest expense in Pottstown's $35,114,988 budget, and Council Vice-president Greg Berry said the one-year wage freeze would save about $138,000.After a unanimous vote on the police contract, council split 4-3 on both the budget and tax rates for next year. Councilman Stephen Toroney was in the minority with Berry and Councilman Jody Rhoads.Toroney had opposed eliminating funding for the borough's economic development department during a Dec. 16 vote. On Monday, he said economic development is "one way for us to increase our revenue stream." By eliminating the department and the economic development director's position currently held by Terri Lampe, council saved $134,518 next year.Toroney also lobbied for the annual financial audit to be presented to council, which would allow council members to question the previous year's budget."An auditing firm will give us the truth," he said.Rhoads did not give an explanation for his votes. Berry said the budget process this year was a great improvement over previous budget cycles, adding, "In my opinion we needed to go deeper with cuts. However, it was apparent that further cuts and recoommendations of our budget team would not be supported by the majority of council."Berry, who is also the council finance committee chairman, read from a prepared statement on behalf of council, saying Pottstown faced many difficult decisions just like county and state governments have in a struggling economy.Although the statement offered praise on several occasions for Assistant Manager Jason Bobst and consultant/finance director Timothea Kirchner, it said council was not abreast of the "true extent of the borough's financial situation" until last month.Mayor Sharon Valentine-Thomas echoed that last point, saying, "This will not be a process that simply starts in October."She also read from a prepared statement, calling the 2009 budget a "product of hard work." Pottstown avoided 25 percent funding cuts from the four fire companies. Valentine-Thomas said the cost of public safety "should not be breached."On balance, the budget process arrived at several conclusions, including a "more economical outsourcing option" and greater expectations for managers to meet accounting targets, she said. The financial committee will now give monthly updates, the mayor said.She highlighted Pottstown's top three cost items: $9.6 million from the general fund for police, $1.9 million in employee benefits, and just under $500,000 for codes.Valentine-Thomas, who cast one vote Monday night, said she looks forward to a "greater level of co-opertivity" between the community and local government. Her vote came on the tax of 1.30635 mills for fire house maintenance.Councilman Mark Gibson abstained because he is a paid fire company driver.Gibson expressed disappointment with one or more of his previous votes concerning layoffs. He voted for cutting Lampe's position and against the elimination of 12 positions on Dec. 8. In retrospect, Gibson said he did not do "what's in my heart.""I would have made a different decision and I'm being honest about it today," he said.On the overall budget, Gibson hopes to have a better go of it for the 2010 fiscal cycle."I hope this time next year, we won't have to go through what we went through this year," he stated.The approved property tax rate for 2009 is 8.88872 mills, or about $8.89 for every $1,000 in assessed value.

http://www.pottsmerc.com/articles/2008/12/30/news/srv0000004379458.txt

Article Woefully Inaccurate

Here is a letter I sent to Nancy March & Mike Hays regarding the article below title 'Pottstown taxpayers face 10 percent increase.'

Good morning,

I read, with surprise, the article in today’s edition regarding council approving the budget. The article contained several inaccuracies and incorrect information.

This first incorrect piece of information is that the police wage freeze would save about $138,000, not $178,000 as reported. Council did not lay off Terri Lampe, we eliminated funding for the economic development department, there is a big difference. Council also did not layoff any other employees, Council cannot layoff anyone (except for the Borough Manager and Police Chief), again, funding for those positions were eliminated. The sentence that says “Toroney also lobbied for an independent financial audit, which would allow council members to annually question the previous year’s budget” is also very inaccurate. We have an auditing firm (which is required by law) that does conduct an audit every year. What Mr. Toroney was saying is that he feels the audit report should be presented to council, which it has not (at least since I’ve been on Council). On a side note, last year’s audit was used heavily in developing this year’s budget.

The prepared statement I read was a prepared statement by council, which I made sure I mentioned twice. See statement below. The statement was not regarding the budget decision, but instead was to thank the police for their willingness to work with the borough to keep costs down. The comment attributed to me (true extent of the borough’s financial situation) was read from the prepared statement thanking police. My personal comments, that I made last night regarding the budget were: I thought this budget process was a great improvement over previous budget cycles and that I appreciate the fact that it was an open process whether or not people chose to participate. In my opinion we needed to go deeper with cuts. However, it was apparent that further cuts and recommendations of our budget team would not be supported by the majority of council.

Mark Gibson is not a volunteer firefighter, he is a paid driver.

I feel that a correction would be appropriate.

Thank you,

Greg Berry
Pottstown Borough Council Vice President

----------------

Council Prepared Statement/Press Release

As everyone knows, we are in difficult financial times. The economic problems
which the Country is facing has impacted large corporations, small businesses and
governments at all levels. In Pottstown, we are no exception.

As a community, we face many challenges moving forward into 2009, and in future
years to come. Many difficult decisions need to be made and we need to work together
cooperatively in order to solve our short-term economic woes and address our long-term problems that we will likely face.

With that background, since June of this year representatives of the Borough and
the Pottstown Police Officers have been attempting to negotiate a Police Contract, as the existing Contract expires December 31, 2008. Unfortunately, it was not until November of this year, however, that the Borough discovered the extent of the Borough’s financial condition. At that point, in the spirit of cooperation, the Police Officers graciously extended an offer to the Borough to allow for a one year Contract extension with no salary increase. Proceeding through proper channels, representatives of the Association and the Borough have since met and negotiated, and are pleased to announce, a two year extension of the existing Contract which will carry the Borough through the end of calendar year 2010.

The two year Contract will freeze existing base compensation for all police positions
for 2009 at the 2008 rates. The 2010 increase in base levels of compensation will provide for a 3.5% increase.

The savings to the Borough’s General Fund in 2009 will exceed $138,000.00, or the
equivalent of .154 mills. The Borough Council and the management would like to thank the Police for their offer and their willingness to work with the Borough during difficult economic times. The savings to the Borough are significant and have assisted Council in accomplishing savings that might not have otherwise been available when attempting to finalize the 2009 Budget.

We thank you for your cooperation and your efforts toward this goal that benefits the
entire community.

Headline Inaccurate

The headline "Council votes to lay off 12 workers" is woefully inaccurate and misleading.

Council did not vote to lay off anyone, instead council voted to eliminate 12 positions. Council can only hire and fire the borough manager and police chief. Council cannot lay off employees.

Welcome to the new format!

Welcome to the new blog format of fiscalresponsibility.org! The blog format will allow me to more timely post updates, articles, etc. regarding my pursuit of bringing fiscal responsibility to Pottstown. Your suggestions are appreciated.

Owing $125K Is not Fiscally Responsible...

That is correct, owing $125,000 is not fiscally responsible.

What is fiscally responsible is finding the mistake, determining what caused it and developing a means to prevent it from occurring again.

This is what the Fiscal Responsibility Pottstown initiative was designed to do.

-Greg Berry