AppPac's Expenditures Report -- Hard To Figure

 

The expenditures report submitted by the Appalachian PAC to the State Board of Elections is one confounding document, since the PAC treasurer in Raleigh wants to claim a year-to-date expenditure for two Democrats running in the BooneTown Council races as $6,936.54, which is not just misleading -- it seems deliberately misleading, because each of four candidates, including the formal PAC endorsements of Eric Woolridge and Benjamin Ray, are all also listed as receiving the exact same amount: $6,936.54. In actuality, this same report clearly shows that the PAC spent only $19.57 each on its support for Tugman and Futrelle (for putting their names on a flyer? Who knows what could possibly have cost less than $20?).

Let's be clear: the PAC gave no cash to any of the candidates. That almost-$7K is an indirect contribution in the form of PAC mailers, yardsigns, buttons, etc. In fact it looks as though the PAC added up all (or most?) of its combined operating expenses, came up with $27,746.16, and divided it four ways, as though the two Democrats, Edie Tugman and Tim Futrelle, have benefitted equally with the PAC's actual endorsements of Woolridge and Ray.

How dumb do they think we are?

Edie Tugman is on record with this statement: "I have not sought endorsement from any PAC. I was sent a questionnaire by the Appalachian PAC and responded. I was then contacted and interviewed as they were making decisions about who to promote. As they were not forthcoming about who their Board Members are, who their donors/supporters are and had no position papers, I declined to be considered. After the interview, I wrote to Travis Critcher that I would not seek or accept support of any kind from the organization."

Tim Futrelle wrote this: "I have not sought any endorsement or financial contribution from any PAC. In full disclosure, during the first week of my campaign, a member of the North Carolina Association of Realtors contacted me to participate in an interview regarding a regional comprehensive housing study that would include our area. A few weeks after the interview I received a contribution from their organization. This is the only contribution of this type I have received. All others have been, and will continue to be, individual donors."

The PAC, in its continuing effort to look "non-partisan," sort of patted Tugman and Futrelle on the head, ignored Tugman and Futrelle's request that they not be endorsed by the AppPAC, and put Tugman and Futrelle's names on their PAC yardsign in much smaller type (the pat on the head). I guess they're saying that pat on the head is worth $6,936.54.

Again: how dumb do they think we are?

An Embarrassing Day for Watauga County

Showing that they are definitely not above rank political grandstanding, the three Republicans on the Watauga County Commission this morning suddenly sprang a resolution in support of the terrible Amendment 1. It wasn't on the agenda, there was nothing about it in the commissioners' packets, there was not even a written version of the resolution on the desks to refer to ... just a blanket "we support the efforts of the Republican majority in the NC General Assembly to write discrimination into the state's Constitution."

Democratic Commissioner Jim Deal objected vigorously. "I haven't seen any resolution. It wasn't in our packets. There's been no advance notice."

But the Republicans, led by Commissioner Vince Gable, bulldozed their way right past those objections (Commissioner Futrelle, the other Democrat, was absent). Playing to the lowest prejudices of your base might be considered good strategic politics, but it has little to do with good government or with any of the many problems actually facing Watauga County.

Final Show-Down on the Watauga County Budget

The Republican majority's budget passed 3-2 at this a.m.'s regular meeting of the Watauga County Commission, but not without last-ditch amendments offered by Democratic commissioners Jim Deal and Tim Futrelle. Both men expressed their deep disappointment at the way the majority are treating education in the county and the way that the important work of many non-profits was zeroed out, or severely reduced, in next year's county budget.

Mr. Deal, in particular, expressed unhappiness with the message being sent to the hundreds of volunteers who work to provide various county safety-nets through non-profit orgs -- all for a measly savings of $52,000. That isn't much in the overall county budget but means a great deal to the work of those agencies. Board Chair Nathan Miller responded with a succinct expression of his "vision": "My philosophy is to fund what government has to fund and nothing else. Non-profits need to go find their money elsewhere."

Mr. Deal addressed that difference in philosophy head-on, especially as regards the importance of education: "The economic vitality of our county is tied to our educated workforce." Deal and Futrelle tried without success to amend the budget to add another $595,000 to the school budget, to make up the expected shortfall from the state of NC.

Damage Control

Watauga County Commissioner Vince Gable's rewriting of recent history has appeared first on the local Republican blog site, where he perhaps most needs to convince his base that he's holding it in the road and acting responsibly. His letter will no doubt appear this week in multiple print venues as well.

Rewriting history? Here's the key passage from late in the letter:

"...Prior to the public hearing on the referendum, I spoke with state legislators who assured me counties would not be forced to shoulder the burden of balancing the state budget -Governor Perdue's attempted budget manipulation would not prevail. With this understanding, I entered the public hearing convinced a tax referendum would no longer be necessary. Many of those attending the public hearing were concerned about county funding for education. In light of changing events in Raleigh, I feel the Commission will be able to both balance the budget and protect education without a sales tax increase...."

1. "I entered the public hearing convinced a tax referendum would no longer be necessary." That may be true, but it is not true that Commissioner Gable expressed that opinion either at the public hearing nor afterward, when the public had mainly left the room and only a few of us remained to hear their amazing reversal of course on the tax referendum. What had most certainly happened since the March 1st meeting when Mr. Gable and the other two Republican commissioners voted to hold the referendum was (a) a personal cussing out on the Tea Party email list and (b) a somewhat flailing attempt by the local GOP leadership to come to the defense of the sales tax hike in a Watauga Democrat editorial, a piece of writing that evidently caused something of a split among local Republicans.

2. "Governor Perdue's attempted budget manipulation would not prevail." This is what is known as a red herring. The Guv's suggested budget is pure wishful thinking, since everyone knows the Republican General Assembly will never pass it. As it was, The Guv suggested deep cuts in some areas but strove to protect public education. Meanwhile, the Republican leaders in the Gen'l Assembly have shown no particular concern for protecting the schools. Republicans in the Gen'l Assembly have said that they intend to eliminate between 5 and 10 percent of teaching positions and increase class sizes, on their way to cutting $1 billion from education. "Public schools are going to be squeezed hard," boasted Sen. Jerry Tillman, R-Randolph.

3. "I spoke with state legislators who assured me counties would not be forced to shoulder the burden of balancing the state budget." Believing that Dan Soucek and Jonathan Jordan are going to save public education in Watauga County ... we seem to have flown suddenly to Fantasy Island. Soucek and Jordan are freshmen in Raleigh; they do as they'll told. Period.

4. "I feel the Commission will be able to both balance the budget and protect education without a sales tax increase." The weather has turned lovely here on Fantasy Island! Why the hell have we been worried? (It would have been salutary, of course, if such a rosy scenario had been verbally expressed at some point before, during, or after Mr. Gable revealed his visible anger at county school teachers for coming out to a public hearing, begging that any sales tax increase be devoted to saving their jobs and the future education of children in the county.)

5. In the middle Mr. Gable's letter on the Republican blog site is this sentence: "The Commission passed a resolution to consider a sales tax referendum and held a public hearing on the issue." That's a prevaricating word choice: "...passed a resolution to consider...." No, they passed a resolution to hold a tax referendum. The consideration all came in the long argument they had with Commissioner Futrelle, trying to convince him to vote with them. The public hearing was not required because the decision was already made. The public hearing was a pure courtesy, clearly unnecessary since, as Mr. Gable tells us, he already had his mind made up before walking into the courtroom.

Here We Go Again!

After campaigning in 2010 against the referendum to raise sales taxes in Watauga County a quarter-cent, the three Republican commissioners voted this morning to submit another referendum to the public to raise sales taxes in Watauga County a quarter-cent.

The vote was 3-1, with Tim Futrelle the lone vote against. Commissioner Jim Deal was absent.

The referendum will be held May 17. The election itself will cost the taxpayers approximately $25,000 - $30,000 ... same as the last sales tax referendum.

Remarkable the speed with which the resolution to call for this vote was conceived, developed, and acted on. The very first public utterance about a sales tax increase occurred near the end of the commissioners' pre-budget retreat on Saturday. By this morning, research had been completed on the scheduling of such a vote, and the resolution language had been drafted.

Speed is of the essence, obviously. If the referendum passes on May 17 and is certified, it will still be October 1, 2011, before the first collections can begin. As it is, and if the referendum passes, the county can only hope for additional revenue during eight months of FY2012.

The projected revenue to be raised for those eight months: $1,160,000.

The discussion focused on (a) the commissioner's unhappiness at having to do this and (b) blaming the new high school for the necessity. They put it in their resolution that the new sales tax referendum would be devoted exclusively to debt service.

FURTHER NOTES
Commissioner Vince Gable once again brought up his preference for a land-transfer tax, but legislation is already introduced in Raleigh (which will probably pass) to rescind the ability of counties to pass such a tax.

Food and medicine will be exempt from the sales tax increase.

Waiting until the second meeting in March to pass the resolution would cost the county three more months of revenue ... because of tricky timing issues.

Commissioner David Blust: If we don't pass this tax, then we're looking at a property tax increase or many more firings of employees.

Vince Gable: I know I'll get some grief over this for a "flip-flop on taxes, but it's apples and oranges, what the money will be used for versus the last referendum. I don't like spending the $30,000 on the election.

Nathan Miller: We're going to throw this up there and let the people decide.

David Blust: Our backs are against the wall.

Tim Futrelle: We found a way to balance the budget for the last three years without doing something like this.

No Decision on Watauga County Farmer's Market

At the County Commissioners' "pre-budget retreat" on Saturday, the subject of leasing the parking lot at the Social Services Building on W. King Street came up again ... somewhat contentiously.

Commissioner Jim Deal wants to do everything possible to keep the market viable and intact, so he said he was in favor of leasing the parking lot on Saturdays during the summer to the Watauga County Farmers Market for $1, with the market paying for county costs like an attendant, clean-up, etc.

Commission Chair Nathan Miller said he thought $7,500 rent was reasonable. We can't just let the market use a county asset for free, when we could be using that asset to raise money, Miller said.

Deal: But who else is wanting to use that space? And you're not looking clearly enough at the benefit the market is to our county. We have big budget issues, but $7,500 isn't doing to make a dent in that, and killing the market will affect many people negatively.

Commissioner Vince Gable said that he'd agree to $5,000 in rent. He also said the market was for profit and that the county should not be facilitating a for-profit enterprise.

Deal said the Watauga County Farmers Market itself is non-profit, though individual vendors are making money. But no one's getting rich, and it's a service to thousands of people, Deal added.

Commissioner Futrelle said, "It would be a travesty if our actions caused the break-up of the market."

The commissioners were very aware that a new board of directors will be voted in at the Farmers Market in March, and in the end they suspended their argument, agreeing to wait until there is a new market board to negotiate with.

Clearly, there will be no unanimity going forward on (a) the value of the market to the citizens and (b) whether county government should nurture it.

Better Fasten Your Seat Belts, Watauga County

County Commissioners’ "Pre-Budget Retreat," 2011

Near the very end of the grueling two-day, 12-hour marathon of reviewing county “budgetary challenges,” staged exclusively for the education of our elected County Commission, county manager Rocky Nelson announced that he would be retiring at the end of his current contract. He promised that he would complete the budget for FY 2012 but said it will be the most painful of the 11 county budgets he’s prepared since taking the job.

He wasn’t kidding (and he deserves some sort of local Purple Heart commendation for shouldering one of the most difficult, and thankless, jobs in local government).

Mr. Nelson starkly summed up the choices for current County Commissioners, based on projections that county sales tax revenues “are projected to remain flat.” Watauga County will be short on revenue anywhere from $2.5 million to $4 million (with the higher figure more likely), depending on how many unfunded mandates the NC General Assembly pushes down onto county governments. The four choices Mr. Nelson offered the commissioners:

1. Raise property taxes. Watauga County is currently ranked 6th lowest in tax rate of the 100 NC counties.

2. Call for a public referendum for a quarter-cent sales tax hike.

3. Raid the county’s fund balance (“rainy day,” emergency, and daily cash-flow operations fund), which could put the county in long-range jeopardy and out of compliance with mandates from the state.

4. Cut muscle (and bone) in county services (including appropriations to public schools, since education accounts for over 40% of the budget) ... which will mean firings of many employees (including, naturally, teachers and other school personnel).

The Republican majority made it very clear that option # 1 is off the table. Surprisingly, option # 2 is definitely on the table with the Republican majority, as is option # 3. The county’s fund balance is healthy, due to astute budgeting for the past three years, but it’s a sitting duck, there for the taking (and several commissioners are clearly prepared to take it, despite warnings not to).

Commissioner Gable said he was in favor of a land transfer tax in the county, evidently unaware that since that mechanism (voter referenda) was put in place in NC, every county that attempted to institute a land transfer tax was beaten at the polls, following strong negative campaigns mounted by the real estate industry. Plus the Republican majority in the General Assembly has already announced that they intend to repeal the law that allows counties to even try for the tax.

Quarter-Cent Sales Tax Hike
The biggest problem with a quarter-cent hike to local sales taxes would likely be the timing of a public referendum, since the county’s 2012 budget must be completed by July 1, and there’s a set time mandated by state law between the calling for a tax referendum and the actual scheduling of a vote (60 days? 90 days?).

Not to mention the political hand-stand the Republican commissioners will be performing locally: after campaigning against the quarter-cent sales tax hike last year, they’ll be in a vulnerable position calling for the same thing this year – despite any reasonable explanation about how the money will be used.

Vice Chair David Blust, citing himself as a model of personal budget-cutting, said he was in favor of raiding the fund balance and cutting muscle & bone, which will mean, practically, the firing of many people, including many teachers, teacher assistants, and other school workers.

Former chair Jim Deal said his top priority was still education and that jobs and economic development ranked number 2. Many interesting and even exciting economic development initiatives were presented during the two-day retreat, including the positive revenue stream now beginning to flow into county coffers from “green energy” at the county’s landfill (“energy park"), the development of Watauga County into a premier outdoor-activity destination in the East, the need for water/sewer infrastructure on the Doc & Merle Watson Scenic Byway, etc. All of these initiatives seem prime now for debilitating neglect.

Commission Chair Nathan Miller seemed ready to scapegoat the new Watauga High School as the cause for all the county’s budget problems. He wants cuts to services and inevitably to jobs. Miller and the other Republicans have an eye on the “outside” funding to agencies and non-profits that supply everything from daycare for working families to unwanted and abandoned pet rescue (and many, many other public services).

Commissioner Tim Futrelle wondered out loud how putting people out of work was going to help the local economy. Commissioner Deal said that cutting funding to outside agencies was just another way of cutting services, and the Commission needed to be honest about that. “We’ve been doing budget cuts for the last three years, and we don’t need to be asking Rocky Nelson to make further cuts without being honest that we’re talking about firing people.”

Mr. Nelson pointed out that it’s been three years since county employees have had a raise. Do you want me to cut employees fringe benefits further? he asked.

Mr. Gable said he was against cutting employee benefits, and Mr. Deal added, “If we’re going to cut anybody’s pay, we have to cut ours first.”

In Raleigh on Monday, NC Electoral College member Tim Futrelle of Watauga County signs one of six copies of the official ballot that gave 15 electoral votes to Barack Obama.

Electoral College Meets Monday

Watauga County's newest County Commissioner, Tim Futrelle, is also a member of the North Carolina electoral college and will be in Raleigh Monday at noon to take part in the arcane pomp of the actual election of Barack Obama as President of the United States.

Futrelle was profiled in the Watauga Democrat soon after the election and also here.

It's substantially cool having an official elector representing Watauga County and the rest of the 5th District.

Watauga County's Newest Commissioner

By winning the Democratic Primary, looks like Tim Futrelle, 33, will be Watauga's newest (and youngest) county commissioner. The only numbers in the race we've seen so far are the early voting numbers, which Futrelle won by an overwhelming margin.

At half the age of most of our commissioners, Futrelle will certainly bring a fresh new perspective to county government.

By not contesting the seat in the fall election, the Republicans simply threw in the towel, and prematurely.

Signs

Word from several Watauga County precincts this a.m. says that the Republicans are AWOL. No poll-greeters spotted for any Republican candidates, not even Paularoids (though, clearly, from the count of yard signs alone, Ron Paul is in the lead for the Republican presidential nomination. Apparently, true Paularoids are expecting a Big Uprising at the Republican National Convention this summer that will reject John McCain and sweep Ron Paul into the nomination. BTW, we want whatever it is they're smoking).

The most active Democratic campaigns locally -- from an unscientific count of poll-greeters working key precincts this morning -- would be the Bev Perdue campaign, Team Roy Carter, the Tim Futrelle committee, and both the Clinton and the Obama campaigns.

Turn-out has been steady though not in the overwhelming numbers we've seen reported from other parts of the state.