Happy APAHM and More!
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AmyJean Fry
May 8, 2023, 6:46:45 PM5/8/23
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Hello neighbors,
How apropos that on May 1, Town Elections were held and I was re-elected with the most votes (in an uncontested race) and our wonderful Ward 6 neighbors came out in full force with the 2nd highest voter turnout in the 2023 Council elections! Let's keep that momentum going.
May is Asian Pacific (Native Hawaiian, Desi) American Heritage Month and I am here for it. We will be sworn in on May 11, 2023 (Thursday 6:00 PM before the Town Hall Meeting) and one of the first things I will do in my third term will be to introduce the APAHM Proclamation. We will be going through our Budget as well during the Town Meeting and Resident input is always allowed towards the beginning of the meeting.
Yes, we are facing a tax increase. We knew this was likely after last year's budget conversation where we knew we shouldn't reduce but b/c of the pandemic and hardships from that, we did. We also knew we needed to ensure certain things were in place before we did an increase, like the Homestead tax credit that CM Nettles pushed forward. Our residents can take advantage of the State Homestead Tax Credit, the county's Tax Credit, and Cheverly's Homestead Tax Credit. I have asked that the Town and my colleagues be prepared with an updated website page and a push that will likely require door-to-door knocking of our seniors to ensure they have all this information. If you have a neighbor who could benefit, please let them know. I am well aware that email or text or websites aren't the only way to reach people, so I need your help and will be doing my own push in Ward 6 to get this info to my neighbors. So PLEASE tell a friend.
Very Quickly, let me tell you why I had to vote for an increase. We passed a policy in September 2022 to have a balanced budget by 2026. This was to receive a better credit rating for the bond for the Public Works Building which has been part of the Town's plans since the Police Department was starting construction. Because of this policy, our clean audits, good fund balance, and the hard work of our town staff, we have been able to secure 1.4 million from the state towards this building (THANK YOU TO DELEGATE IVEY and DELEGATE FENNELL, and SENATOR AUGUSTINE!). We are still pushing for more funding on all fronts for all the things. Whether it's public safety grants or money for infrastructure or parks, the money is out there, and we want it. Having our books in order makes us a better candidate for these monies.
To get to a balanced budget in 2026, we need to go up about 15 cents. This is drastic and huge. So the incremental plan was for 5 cents a year. Through discussion, I proposed 4 this year, 5 next year, and 6 the following year with the hope that we NEVER get to 6 cent increase. We have plans to annex. We have plans to take advantage of grants and funding through earmarks from the state and feds. While the initial plan can't account for these monies we don't have yet, I am hopeful that 6 cents is never realized. In fact, I am hopeful we can even hedge that 5 cents next year for a lower increase. But we can't count our chickens before they hatch. In reality, with a 4-cent increase, we are still looking at over $700,000 deficit.
As the Mayor said, getting to balance without an increase means cutting people, cutting services, cutting perks like our tree program, subsidizing Cheverly Day, subsidizing the Community market and other organizations, it requires really reducing services. We have asked our departments to give us their bare bones ask and our department heads did a fantastic job. But I'm sure as you know, trucks and cars need replacing, things need to be fixed, and services cost money... bottom line is, our budget shows where our money is spent and how the strategic plan has guided our spending. I would really encourage anybody who is interested to watch our Constant Yield Hearing. Also, you can find more info about tax rates and surrounding municipalities here https://dat.maryland.gov/Documents/statistics/TaxRates_2022.pdf I will continue to push to find ways to build our commercial base AND bring in more monies through grants, earmarks, and other such subsidies to help relieve that burden that currently lies on our homeowners. Trust me, I don't want to be paying more either.
We had a great Community Conversation about Red Maple Run Woods and you can catch it on my FB Live. One of my big takeaways is that we need to have more communication regarding the work being done around town to ensure that our residents are informed and part of the process. We also need to revisit the 2011 Green Infrastructure Plan and as a new Town Council, I am looking forward to it.
On May 9 (tomorrow) at 6:30 PM, I am hosting another Community Conversation on traffic safety around St. Ambrose. I hope you can attend. We will be meeting near Jason St. and 63rd Avenue.
Did you know that a Ward 6 Resident, Ms. Vee has been coordinating Pickleball on Tuesdays and Fridays? Make sure you check it out!
Lastly, be sure to check out the newsletters.
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