THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1996, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Sunday, September 29, 1996 TAG: 9609270301
SECTION: CHESAPEAKE CLIPPER PAGE: 04 EDITION: FINAL
TYPE: Letters
LENGTH: 101 lines
Fiscal atrocity
The word atrocity is most often used to emphatically describe heinous acts against humanity. However, I believe this term is the one that most aptly describes the action taken by the Chesapeake City Council on Sept. 10, when they approved raising the sales tax on certain services, and financing the building of a convention center in Greenbrier through a lease-purchase agreement with a builder. By their action, the council has perpetrated a fiscal atrocity against the citizens of Chesapeake.
To partially finance the convention center by raising the tax on lodging, food and beverage sales, the council willingly sacrificed the quality of life of all our citizens and violated their continuous campaign promise of ``no new taxes.'' The council compounded this atrocity and made what many consider the worst business decision in the history of our city when it also approved a lease-purchase method of financing the convention center, which will cost the city $30 million over an extended period when it can be built and paid for now for only $9 million.
Despite the fact that our city has a $400 million capital budget, many millions of dollars in interest payments, unfunded critical infrastructure requirements, unresolved deficiencies in public safety, the council voted to finance a ``nice to have'' item, and pay for it in the least cost-effective manner before ensuring that essential needs are met.
Briefly, the details of the lease-purchase financing call for a developer to build the facility on land they own at a cost of approximately $9 million. The city will then lease the building for an annual rental fee of $880,971 for a period of 30 years. This equates to $26.4 million in rent. In addition, the city also agrees to pay all maintenance, repair, capital improvement and insurance - additional costs which have not yet been determined. The city also has the option to buy the facility within the first 12 months for $8,995,000; however, if the city intended to purchase the center within one year, why are we entering into such an agreement in the first place? Why don't we plan and program the funds for this project? This is just another example of the ``smoke and mirrors'' tactics the council uses to mislead the public.
What constitutes the real atrocity in this matter is that the city council has elected to spend $30 million of the taxpayers' money rather than $9 million because they do not have the courage to review the current operating budget, and re-prioritize or defer funding of other non-essential city requirements in order to identify the $9 million required to build the new convention center.
To our citizens who are not informed on this issue, I strongly urge them to watch the replay of the Sept. 10 city council meeting on Channel 23. A major university could use this council session to develop a graduate level course on influence peddling and special interest groups. Our city council approved a method of financing the convention center that will ultimately cost the taxpayers nearly three times what it should; consequently, every citizen in Chesapeake should be outraged at this frivolous waste of our tax dollars.
These actions by our elected representatives should cause everyone to realize that the taxpayers' only hope of redress is the power of prayer and the ballot box. Councilmen John M. de Triquet and Alan P. Krasnoff appear to be the only ones who are truly interested in the city at large. The other council members appear to have tunnel vision and see only what benefits special interest groups and a small segment of businesses near this convention center to the detriment of every taxpayer and businesses which are not in close proximity to the center. The 1998 council elections will be upon us before we know it. I trust you will remember the names of these two visionary councilmen and reward them accordingly.
Bill Pierce
Creef Lane
Referendum petition
Our neighbors in Virginia Beach have the ability to put any question on the ballot during regularly scheduled elections, such as those for the City Council, state Senate and House of Delegates, and president. The process is called an ``advisory referendum.''
It works like this: If you are concerned about an issue, you have the right to put a question on a petition, get 15 percent of the registered voters in the city who voted in the last presidential election to sign your petition, then have city officials put your question on the ballot.
If we went by the total number of voters in the last presidential race in November 1992 (63,062 voters), you would need 9,459 signatures.
The petitions would be submitted to the registrar's office, checked and eventually sent to the office of the clerk of court, where the Circuit Court judge would order the question to be put on the ballot. An advisory referendum is, as the word says, ``advisory'' and would not be binding on our City Council or state legislators.
An advisory referendum is a good way to create discussion, promote solutions and get the majority view on major issues.
Cost is minimized, since questions would appear on the ballot only during regularly scheduled elections. Currently, only our City Council can order an advisory referendum. And, as we have seen in the past, our politicians do not always listen to the majority of the citizens.
So, to fight for your right to voice your concerns to our elected officials, the Chesapeake Council of Civic Organizations (CCCO) will sponsor a petition drive at the presidential election on Nov. 5. We are looking for volunteers who are willing to work at the polls to get signatures on this very important issue. The signatures will be presented to our state senators and delegates, who will use the signed petitions to recommend a change to our City Charter at the 1997 session of the General Assembly.
If you are interested in helping, please contact the CCCO corresponding secretary at 547-8885.
Gene Waters
President
Chesapeake Council of Civic Organizations by CNB