Councilmen Mark Mayoka And Eugene Cook Issue a Joint Statement on The 2014 Proposed Town Budget

The 2014 Preliminary Budget that was distributed Monday morning calls for a million dollar tax increase and an increase in parking meter fees along with the aggressive enforcement of parking summonses. Fees and taxes have been indisputably increased and to say there is a net zero tax increase is misleading as there is a 2.2% spending increase.

The 2014 budget is not credible since it was prepared without completion of the 2012 annual certified audit which is a necessary and essential part of preparing an accurate budget. The 2014 budget is not responsible because it depletes the General Fund Reserves by 1.5 million dollars and in an arbitrary and capricious way it further depletes the Highway Fund Reserves by 2.5 million dollars. The general fund balance has been reduced to 9.9 million dollars lowering the balance dangerously close to the 9.5 million dollar requirement needed to maintain our triple AAA bond rating.

It is incumbent upon us, as elected officials to prepare a responsible and accurate budget for the benefit of the residents and the maintenance of our bond rating.This budget is neither responsible nor accurate and is likely to be frowned upon by the ratings agencies. We question the ethics applied to the current budget and believe the residents deserve better.