Thursday, April 23, 2009
Thanks for the nice story about Leesburg's new budget (Loudoun Extra, April 19), which correctly noted that I motioned to keep the Leesburg town tax rate at 18 cents per $100 of assessed value, partly because taxation by both the town and county can be a disincentive to home buyers.
However, I also wanted a lower rate in order to change the direction of town spending.
Do Leesburg residents need a $2.7 million streets and grounds department to sweep streets monthly, when comparable neighborhoods in the county are swept twice yearly?
Do we need 30 people in this division to do this and pick up branches when the recycling/trash contractor we have hired will do it at no extra charge as long as the branches are bagged?
Why do 10 non-public-safety employees get to use town trucks for personal use, in many cases across state lines? I saw one the other day with personal stickers on the back window.
Do Leesburg taxpayers need to be the sole source of the $523,000 budget for the Thomas Balch Library — a wonderful resource, indeed, but one with 10 full- and part-time employees and no more than 20 visitors daily?
Does the town need three people employed in the name of economic development and research who have no documented cases of bringing businesses to town but cost taxpayers more than $600,000 a year?
Does the town need to amass nearly $16 million in taxpayer money in reserves — a "rainy-day fund," plus surplus left over from the previous fiscal year — yet give no raises to police and other personnel?
Giving town residents another $750,000 back on their taxes was quite doable this year. We also could have invested more in police, sidewalks, trails and other needed infrastructure improvements.
Town taxpayers deserve better than getting a decrease of $7 a month, on average, in their tax bills. The economy has forced a lot of local governments to make hard choices. The Loudoun County Board of Supervisors bit the bullet this year, despite also raising the tax rate. Leesburg needs to stop doing business as usual and reevaluate where and how we are spending tax dollars.
Ken Reid, Leesburg Town Council
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