Commissioner Steve Rideout
swrideout@aol.com
April 22, 2019
Dear Readers:
Attached are my notes from last night’s meeting. The budget process is not easy in any year but has been made more difficult this year due to several increases in costs about which we were not aware until recently as well as the increase in the salaries of many of the police officers that we needed to approve to help keep them working here. We have been losing too many officers to other police forces and jurisdictions at a significant cost to the city despite the reduction in crime in 2018 and already this year.
As you will see, however, from the comments of one citizen at the meeting last evening the crime reduction has not made it to all parts of the city. Improving those efforts is something that we need to be sure to do.
With regard to the budget, the City Manager will be providing that to us for consideration in May. There will be a public hearing where your concerns will be heard. It is clear that the tax rate will need to increase, but the exact amount will not be known until the tax rate is decided on May 9th. The expectation is that it will be no more than 10 cents and possibly less.
In order for you to really know how your City works, attending a city council meeting is one good way to do that. Talking with your Commissioner or the Mayor is another. I want city government to be as transparent as possible so that you know what we are doing and why. You may agree or not, which is your right, but we are doing our best to find ways to cut costs where we can without impacting services before making any decisions about increasing the tax rate.
Steve