[Durham INC] County Budget (fund raising ideas)

[TheOcean1 at aol.com]

Actually, the fines collected from zoning violations go into a state wide  
pot, so we'd be improving schools state wide, but that's not a bad thing.  
Cleaning up Durham's image is reward enough.
 
I'm CCing the Solid Waste Director and the City Manager.
I'd sent an email suggesting an amnesty period to the yard waste quite some 
 time ago, but at last night's PAC2 Coffee w/Council, Donald Long said he 
liked  the idea. If you are really that close to having the mulching program 
in  operation, then you better move quickly if you want to use that  
suggestion.
 
Specific illustration: You can just drive down Club Blvd and you'll  see 
them, 6 or 8 black plastic bags. Just look toward I-85 as you pass the only  
crosswalk in front of the Magnet School. They line the little dead end  
section of Glendale, and have been there for months. You think $40 per ton is  
expensive to tip it in the landfill, it costs you $450 per ton to have the  
Impact Team pick it up. That was the cost years ago, don't know what it is  
today. You have many tons of these random leaf dumps around town, they won't 
go  away by themselves.
 
Maybe this is a place where the citizens can help out. Most citizens have  
room in their garbage bins, let them add one of the bags of leaves to their  
pick up, since they are currently mixed together at the dump anyway. Your  
new/reinstated mulch program will solve that problem, but the above idea is  
best if you offer it before you roll out the mulch program.
 
Let the citizens save you $410 per ton, and clean up those messes. All you  
have to do is tell the citizens it is OK to add them to their trash until 
the  end of April, then, get with the program.... the Mulch Program!
 
Bill  Anderson


In a message dated 3/24/2010 10:21:42 P.M. Eastern Daylight Time,  
randy at 27beverly.com writes:

I pretty  much have to concur with County Manager Ruffin as to what is in
the bank  and why it is there. That's sort of a dead issue as far as having
a rainy  day fund. The rain is already falling if you've been paying
attention. And  some major storms are on the radar screen...

But there are some ways to  generate more money for the schools. We just
have to get the right  employees (or get the ones we have to do their
jobs). Here's my example  that I have been trying to get fixed for almost a
year now. The Planning  Department employee (Inspector) whose job it is to
enforce ordinances and  codes says "he'd rather get compliance than give a
citation". Therein lies  the problem. His time is better spent (4 days a
week if necessary) getting  these violators fined for the violations. In
almost a year I have seen very  little compliance. In some cases, the money
(from the fines) goes directly  to the School System (to the tune of $500
increments per violation!). He  could have either collected thousands of
dollars (in the year I have been  trying to clean the roadside violations I
travel to the farm on) or have  gotten compliance. He has done neither. For
the City, Neighborhood  Improvement Services did make a small dent in the
list I gave them, but the  Inspector from Planning and Zoning has a serious
problem when it comes to  finding anything he has accomplished (just
relative to my interactions with  him). I would have to give him a very
poor job performance rating. And all  the time he could have been earning
money for the School System or cleaning  up our community. Both positive
things!

I had the pleasure of  experiencing Solid Waste Durham County style this
past week. I was shocked  to learn that they do not recycle metal (other
than a few white goods that  the attendant said would be gone in the
morning because someone steals them  regularly (for scrap metal I assume).
The State pays the municipalities for  the disposal of white goods so we're
(taxpayers) losing money here. And if  other metal was captured from the
waste stream, it too could be recycled  for a profit (as the City does).
Instead the County sends a valuable  resource like scrap metal to Virginia
for disposal (all waste in Durham  goes to the same place) and pays to
throw it away. I found Station 4 on  Redwood Rd. Was a real pain to unload
from. It is set up for side unloading  when all trucks load from the rear.
This was really a pain if you had a  load as I did. But they do recycle
oyster shells. I guess there is more  money in them than scrap metal...

They need to get rid of the  Inspectors who see compliance as the method of
choice for dealing with code  and ordinance violations and get some pit
bulls in there to start  collecting money (while cleaning up Durham!). And
recycling metal would add  revenue. It may not be enough to save 400
teacher jobs, but some of the  teachers I have seen need to be replaced. So
maybe getting rid of the bad  ones in a budget crunch really won't hurt the
educational process of  children. I've never had kids, but I've always paid
for their education  through taxes. So getting rid of some under-performing
teachers may not be  a bad idea. Like I've said before (and get heat when I
say it every  time...), reduction in employees is not always a bad idea. I
think (like  the Inspector story I mention above) that a lot of employees
get into this  comfort zone where they take their jobs for granted and tend
to coast.  Maybe this will be a wake up call that a new day is coming
whereby someone  actually sees that people are actually doing their jobs.
And not just from  the bottom up, but also from the top down. The old joke
of messing up so  bad they promote you is not too far off base for a few...

RWP
27  Beverly


> Over 400 citizens showed up for the conversations with  council last 
night,
> and most of them were there to plead with the  county not to cut the 
school
> budget AGAIN, and particularly not to  eliminate one, single teacher's
> position.
>
> It was a  great turnout, and I hope that we here in South Durham can  have
>  at least as good of a showing at the next public meeting with
>  commissioners (Jordan High, March 30, 7 PM). This is especially  
important,
> since it is presumed that the big turnout last night was  because of a
> letter sent out by the Durham PTA president, which the  county claims
> mislead the public.
>
> For more details  concerning DPS budget cuts under consideration this 
year,
> please see  the following website:
>
>  
http://jordan.dpsnc.net/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=474&Itemid=1
>  For information regarding the controversial 'rainy day fund,' which  the
> county refuses to tap into to help our schools weather this storm,  please
> see the news article and link below. After talking with several  people
> more informed than I, I discovered that this rainy day fund is  not only
> for schools, but for many Durham services and infrastructure  (like a
> neighborhood's Reserve account), and I now feel that Durham  should find
> ways to continue to invest in our citizens' education  without having to
> tap this important savings account.
>
>  What we need most are pleas to spare cuts to our school system,
>  particularly teachers positions and salaries and classroom supplies,  
which
> include suggestions for other areas where cuts can be made, or  areas 
where
> revenue can be raised (see the comment below). You can  email your
> commissioners and school board members at:
>
>  Commissioners:
> MPage at co.durham.nc.us; ereckhow at co.durham.nc.us;  jbowser at co.durham.nc.us;
> BHeron at co.durham.nc.us;  bhowerton at co.durham.nc.us;
> mruffin at co.durham.nc.us
>
>  School Board:
> minnie.forte-brown at dpsnc.net,  heidi.carter at dpsnc.net,
> omega.curtis-parker at dpsnc.net,  fredrick.davis at dpsnc.net,
> kirsten.kainz at dpsnc.net,  stephen.martin at dpsnc.net,
> leigh.bordley at dpsnc.net,  hank.hurd at dpsnc.net
>
> please remove any spaces in the above  email (they sometimes get slipped 
in
> there upon  transmission).
>
> Thanks!
> Melissa  (Rooney)
>
>
> __________________________
>
>  
http://www.google.com/url?sa=t&source=web&ct=res&cd=1&ved=0CAYQFjAA&url=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.heraldsun.com%2Fview%2Ffull_story%2F6803702%2Farticle-County
-denies-surplus-claim%3Finstance%3Dhomethirdleft&rct=j&q=herald+sun+rainy+da
y+&ei=41SqS-rcIsa0tgf0gpH8DA&usg=AFQjCNEb_8Td58VH_R1kOVAmXRDWjuvyjA
>
>
>
>  County denies surplus claim
> 1 day 15 hrs ago | 582 views | 0  |  9  |  |
> By Ray Gronberg
>
>  gronberg at heraldsun.com; 419-6648
>
> DURHAM
> -- Supporters  of the Durham Public Schools are misguided if they think
> the county  government is sitting on a massive "rainy day fund" that
> could save  the system from deep budget cuts, two key county officials
>  say.
>
> Because of the recession, "the city of Durham,  Durham
> County and Durham Public Schools all must reduce expenditures  in a time
> when state and local revenues have plummeted," County  Commissioners
> Chairman Michael Page said Monday night. "It is not an  easy process,
> but it is one we cannot avoid."
>
> The  chairman's comments, and
> parallel arguments from County Manager Mike  Ruffin, took aim at Durham
> PTA President Trilby McClammy's call  earlier this month for
> commissioners to spend part of the county's  savings to ease pressure
> for cuts in school spending.
>
>  McClammy said the county is sitting on "over $93 million," much of  which
> "exists to be used in emergency situations."
>
>  With
> schools facing another round of state-dictated cuts that force  DPS to
> eliminate hundreds of jobs, "we feel that our current  circumstances fit
> that description," McClammy said in a March 12  letter that urged
> parents to lobby commissioners.
>
> She  added that "for us, very little can be put ahead of our children's
>  education."
>
> Ruffin, however, said the claim the county has a  massive surplus at its
> disposal is false.
>
> It
>  did have $92.2 million in the bank as of last June 30. But $56 million
>  of that was untouchable, either because of state statute or from
>  previous decisions that "designated" it for other uses.
>
>  The
> remaining $36.1 million was in theory available, but much of  that
> counted toward the reserve the county maintains to guard its AAA  bond
> rating.
>
> There is roughly $5 million not needed  for the bond
> rating, but Ruffin doesn't want to tap that because local  governments
> are under regulatory pressure to put more money in the  bank to cover
> retiree benefits.
>
> Given all that, "the  county does not have any
> additional funds in its reserves that it  could appropriate to assist
> with the school system," Ruffin  said.
>
> Page said critics should explain what services they  think the county
> should cut to boost its allocation to the  schools.
>
> And
> "there are many that believe we are  already funding our system at a
> very generous level," the chairman  said Monday. "They do not want other
> services sacrificed or property  taxes raised to fund our schools at a
> higher level."
>
>  Ruffin said he'd written DPS Interim
> Superintendent Hank Hurd to say  he was "dismayed" by the claims from
> school advocates that the county  is sitting on extra money.
>
> Like
> City Manager Tom  Bonfield, Ruffin also stressed that
> recession-triggered revenue  shortfalls are likely to endure for years,
> making the problem less a  rainy day and more one that demands lasting
> cuts in  spending.
>
> When it comes to revenue, "there's this 'new
>  normal,' " Ruffin said. "We don't know where it is, but it's not where
>  it was. It's lower. We're all groping to where that point is going to
>  end up. It's going to be several years before we right-size the
>  organization to where we can live with the annual revenue we're going
>  to get."
>
> He added that "the worst mistake" the county or  the
> school system could make would be to use one-shot funding to  fund
> ongoing expenses on the assumption that there will be a quick  recovery.
>
> "The
> hard thing, the right thing to do is go  ahead and make the [budget]
> adjustments you need to make," he said,  adding that he's figuring on
> slashing county spending for the second  year in a row.
>
> County
> and school officials are  scheduled to attend a forum on the budget
> tonight at 7 p.m. at the  Holton Career and Resource Center, 401 N.
> Driver St.
>
>  Ruffin is expecting PTA supporters to show up in
> force. "Because of  [the McClammy] letter and the confusion, it could
> get a little  incendiary," he said.
>
> ____
>
> My  comment:
>
> While I empathize with the commissioners' and county  manager's difficult
> situation in having to make ends meet with even  less money than last 
year,
> I take issue with comparing Durham's public  school system (and associated
> costs) with other nearby counties. It is  a common fact that Durham has
> more challenges at a higher level than  nearby Chapel Hill, Wake, etc.,
> including a larger ESL student  population, a larger free-or-reduced-lunch
> population, a larger  population of low-income families (well below the
> country average),  and higher drop out rates and crime rates (which are, 
no
> doubt,  related). That's why we have to spend more money than others on 
our
>  school system.
>
> Teachers and parents (and citizens, in  general), would like to see a
> TRANSPARENT breakdown of DPS's budget,  including salaries and benefits 
for
> ALL administration positions --  including every person who works in the
> Fuller Bldg. We deserve to  know exactly how DPS is allocating our money.
>
> As for where we  can cover the costs ...
>
> The county should be putting immense  pressure on the state to allow us to
> impose impact fees SOLELY on new  development, as other counties (but NOT
> Durham) are currently  permitted to do. There are plenty of residential
> properties that are  vacant, for sale, or just plain dilapidated 
throughout
> Durham, and  developers profiting from new construction should help pay 
the
>  resulting infrastructure costs.
>
> 2) PREPARED Food Tax, Hotel  Tax, and Entertainment Tax: The county should
> have a referendum for  these taxes in every election from here on out. 
Over
> 60 % of those who  work in Durham DO NOT live here (as school board
> candidate Hughes  pointed out during his City Council run), yet they
> benefit from our  services (roads, police, etc.) while they are here 
(which
> is at least  40 hours per week). This is one obvious way to get them to
> share in  the costs.
>
> 3) Legalize Trap and Release in Durham, enabling  volunteer citizens to
> trap stray animals, neuter/spay them, and then  release them back where
> they found them. Other counties have had great  success with this -- it
> reduces the workload of the Animal Control  Dept, as well as the costs
> associated with trapping and euthanizing  these animals. And release of
> these 'fixed' animals inhibits other,  unfixed strays from coming into the
> area, thereby reducing our  problems with feral animals.
>
>
>        _______________________________________________
> Durham INC Mailing  List
> list at durham-inc.org
>  http://www.durham-inc.org/list.html
>


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