Wednesday, April 05, 2006

City-County consolidation talks heat up

Many people have asked me if I am in favor of consolidation or not. My answer is actually similar to Marla Irving's answer in the interview I conducted last Sunday.

I believe in consolidation in areas where it makes sense and where it adds efficiency and/or cuts costs.

The Mayor came out today in favor of consolidation and backed a proposal that would replace the Mayor and County Commissioners with a single executive. This proposal would also replace the City Council and County Council with one combined City/County Council.

The Mayor said one thing that was shocking.

He will not pursue further annexations (Except for the two currently in progress) until this issue is resolved. Wow. For him that is a major and almost un-believable statement. The empire of Fort Wayne loves to expand and take property with both annexation and Eminent Domain as frequently as they can.

The Mayor also said one thing that was completely inept and typical of all local elected officials of both Parties.

He does not know if consolidation will save the taxpayers money.

WHAT.

How stupid is he?

If we consolidate services it DAMN WELL BETTER SAVE THE TAXPAYERS MONEY. DUH...

Mike Sylvester
Chairman of The Libertarian Party of Allen County

8 comments:

Anonymous said...

you must not understand ANYTHING about politics. The Mayor is testing the water with respect to consolidation. He doesnt want to commit to anything until he is absolutely certain that it will do what he says it will do.

He understands that consolidation might cut back on taxation, and conventional wisdom says it will. But until he knows for sure, he's going to say what he knows is the truth - he's not sure yet.

I think it would be good to understand the subtle nuances of politics if you are running for elected office.

Robert Enders said...

Richards says that he isn't sure. That really means that he is sure that it will save money but he plans on wasting it elsewhere. Therefore, with him in control consolidation will not result in a reduction of taxes.

LP Mike Sylvester said...

Anonymous said...

There is some truth to what you say; but, not a whole lot.

The truth of the matter is consolidation SHOULD save the taxpayers money. Anyone supporting consolidation should trumpet that fact. Mayor Richards has other plans for that money...

Keep reading the blog "anonymous said" and you will learn partner!

Mike Sylvester

Anonymous said...

Please distingush between property tax savings, and business tax savings. Why do we think the Chamber is behind reduced government? One reason, because taxes for their members will go down....then who's go up? Property taxes went up after reassessment, which the Chamber pushed, but business taxes did not. The ratio changed completely. The problem in all these discussions is "what is the definition of effenciency?"

Robert Enders said...

The definition of efficiency in this case is using as little money as possible. But you do have a point in that the CoC will lobby to lower taxes for businesses but not for homeowners.

It is up to ordinary people like you, Mike, and me to advocate lowering taxes that impact the working class. Sales tax, personal income taxe, and property taxes keep going up because the general population isn't awake or organized enough to do anything about it.

Anonymous said...

When departments are merged in a consolidation such as the one being planned, perceived savings will not materialize because the department with the higher wage will set the standard for the new department. Staff levels for the new department will be as much as 75% of the total for two unconsolidated groups. Add in severence packages for those not retained and I ask the question: where do we save money in consolidation? Just look at the books for Indianapolis. Especially the sheriff's department where it is costing more and crime is going up because of the consolidation (there goes the efficiency theory too).

LP Mike Sylvester said...

Anonymous said:

There is no doubt that they often use tricky and outright false accounting when they caclulate the savings. We need to make sure they do not do that...

Mike

Anonymous said...

Keep up the good work » »

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