Here's a letter an austerity group called Vibrant and Affordable Montpelier sent to City Hall last week.
--
Dec. 28, 2011
Dear Mayor Hooper and members of the City Council,
Thank you for considering a variety of budget cuts in response to the citizens¹ letter sent earlier requesting a 3% budget cut. We know that trimming the budget is not an easy task.
Since our original letter was drafted, some of us calling ourselves Vibrant and Affordable Montpelier have continued to study the tax and budget situation in Montpelier. It does appear our concerns about Montpelier municipal taxes are warranted.
Our calculations show that out of the 12 largest regional centers in Vermont, Montpelier had the highest 2010 median municipal tax bill in the state for residences on less than six acres, at $2,145. The lowest municipal tax bill, $1,194, was in Bennington. High Montpelier municipal taxes are a burden for all commercial property owners and for all homeowners with household incomes above $47,000, the cut-off point for the state circuit breaker tax relief program.
We have studied the proposed FY13 municipal budget and the various levels of cuts proposed by the City Manager. We agree (with reservations) that increased infrastructure spending should be accomplished next year by bonding for $870,000, rather than increasing FY13 spending by $500,000. That will provide funds to begin repairing our neglected roads, sidewalks, bridges and other infrastructure. However, we also believe that, ultimately, cuts and efficiencies in city government will be necessary in order for Montpelier to be able to pay for its infrastructure needs from the city's general fund. We can only bond for so much, as you have recognized.
Vibrant and Affordable Montpelier continues to support a 3% cut ($325,871) from FY12¹s budget of $10,862,379. That would mean an FY13 budget of $10,536,507, or a total of $823,221 in reductions from your ³base² level for next year of $11,359,728. We recognize this requires cuts in most departments, including ³core² functions.
While we could make suggestions as to how each department could be trimmed, we recognize that the city manager and the Council have the ultimate responsibility for prioritizing spending within each department (though individually, some of us have thoughts about proposed cuts that we would he happy to share with you). From the various options that the city manager has presented, it seems to us that the City could be able to find $823,221 in savings next year. We believe these savings should be found without eliminating the community enhancements that make downtown Montpelier special and vibrant, such as July 3, First Night and the like.
As for future budgets, we suggest the Council appoint a citizen committee to look for efficiencies and to compare our practices with those of other regional centers in Vermont. You have already received a proposal from Ben Huffman that outlines some of the work that might be done. We would like to meet with you at some point early in 2012 to discuss these ideas and others more fully.
Again, thank you for taking the time to listen to our concerns.
Sincerely,
For VAM: David Beatty, Paul Carnahan, Phil Dodd, Ben Huffman, Eve Jacobs-Carnahan, Thierry Guerlain, Gregg Gossens, Bob Gross, Tim Heney, Dave Kidney, Peter Nielson, Jean Olson, Steve Sease, Linda Setchell, Susan Zeller, Diane Zamos.
Comments