Letter to the Editor

Dear Editor:

As the Administrator for the City of Waitsburg, I would like to address Mr. Ming's letter about the city.

First, the city has not yet implemented either a car tab or sales tax increase. If implemented, however, the city would only be asking for a $10 car tab fee on vehicles registered in the city limits or a 1/10 of 1 percent sales tax increase (which has to be approved by the citizens of Waitsburg); not both, and not $20 and 2/10 of 1 percent as Mr. Ming's implies.

Our preferred method would be the sales tax increase, as it would apply to everyone in and/or passing through the city that chooses to stop and buy something here, rather than only applying to those who live in the city limits. I would also like to note that the sales tax increase would apply to the city itself, which routinely buys local whenever we can.

This increase, if approved, would bring our tax rate up to 8.1 percent from 8.0 percent. It should also be noted that this money, if approved in either form, would be solely dedicated to street maintenance activities to ensure our street system is kept up. It is not intended to cover any employee salaries or benefits. City employees haven't had a dedicated raise in three years, and also took a benefits reduction in an effort to help save the city money in 2012 and beyond.

Second, in regard to the garbage amount Mr. Ming's brings up and fuel surcharge associated with it, the city's contract with Basin Disposal includes a fuel surcharge fee. The city went to great lengths to inform our citizens of the changes to their garbage service, both mailing letters to utility users and putting the matter in The Times in several articles. Also, the city council spent almost six months addressing the matter at its regularly scheduled meetings before approving the new contract a few months ago. The 12.5 percent administrative fee Mr. Ming's refers is actually half of what it was during the previous contract term with Basin Disposal. Almost all the money collected on behalf of the city goes to pay taxes to the state, as the city has this revenue taxed twice by the state through B&O taxes as well as refuse taxes. Only a very small portion is retained to help cover some of the deputy clerk's time preparing the solid waste portion of the utility bill.

The city reduced the administrative fee in an effort to keep prices as low as possible for our citizens, as we are quite aware of the economic climate. The 12.5 percent collected allows us to basically just break even, if that.

Third, in response to Mr. Ming's assertion that the city is taxing rather than congratulating our citizens on their water conservation efforts, this is simply not accurate. The city charges a fee for water, based on the meter size and on water consumption. The lines in the letter he refers to were simply meant to explain why water revenues are down, not to scold our citizens for conserving water. The fact is that when you have milder seasons, you just don't use as much water, and that leads to less revenue for the city to allocate to keeping up our current levels of service for our water system. For that reason, in addition to the other reasons outlined in the letter, we have to look at increasing rates at this time.

Last, Mr. Ming's, in my opinion, has taken a cheap shot at the mayor, who, yes, has taken a part-time job out of town, but is back in town every week and stays in regular contact with me, the public works director and other members of the city council. He is always available by cell phone or email, should any citizen want to discuss anything city-related with him. Also, as anyone who has ever been the mayor or served on the city council can tell you, they do not do it for the money. The $10 per meeting for council members and the $100 per month for the mayor (both of which are taxed, so they don't even get that full amount) don't begin to cover the amount of time they invest or what they are asked to deal with on a regular basis. They do it as a public service to help the city and its citizens continue the way of life we are accustomed to.

In closing, you can trust that I know that people are struggling here and around us in neighboring communities.

I am very sympathetic to the needs of our citizens, and I have done my best to keep taxes and utility rates to what I feel are lowest acceptable levels in which to provide the highest levels of services to our citizens. We provide a lot of services beyond water, sewer and garbage that most people don't even know about. I have always maintained an open-door policy if any citizen should have any questions regarding anything the city is currently doing or considering.

I welcome anyone with questions or concerns to call or come into my office any time. Citizen input is very important to the running of a city and should always be taken seriously, as our citizens are who the council, myself and the other city employees work for. I only ask that before you form an opinion or believe any rumors you might hear, you consider talking with me or one of the council members or Mayor to get the information straight from the source.

Thank you for your consideration.

Respectfully,

Randy Hinchliffe

City Administrator