Response to Delegate Smigiel's Blog

Please see the copy below of the response to Delegate Smigiel's blog about me and the Cecil County Blog. I have submitted it to his blog and hope that it gets posted.

First of all Mike, thanks for taking the time to visit my blog. I want to clarify some points that you made about my last post. I was not claiming that there was a 2 cent tax cut. I pointed out that there was a 2 cent reduction in the amount that it could have been increased by. I know a tax increase when I see one, I was commenting on the fact that it could have been worse. When is the last time that we have seen this reduced?

As for implying that you did not attend the budget hearings, if that was my intent, I would have said that Delegate Smigiel didn’t even attend. The implication made was that there are many folks out there complaining about the actions of their elected officials and that they do not even take advantage of the public meetings. This was even noted in an earlier Whig article. And you are correct, I did not attend any of these meetings, I would expect that the commissioners that I voted for would do the right thing for me.

My question was why you were pinning this all on Commissioner Hodge. He is just one vote among five others. As you had pointed out in an earlier posting on your site, Commissioner Mullin also pledged that he would not support any new taxes. Where is his headline? When the state passed all of the new taxes last year, we all know that you were there fighting against the increase taxes, yet I did not hold your feet to the fire because they passed.

As for the Anonymous posting, I could force people to give a name to leave a comment but it is too easy for people to give a false one. My blog is open to all, I have had people even complain about my wife on the school board and did not edit it. I am trying to have an open forum and will delete anything to gets to far out of line.

Thanks for the opportunity to respond.

What is Delegate Smigiel's Point with Latest Blog Posting

On Delegate Smigiel's blog, his latest post is about Commissioner Hodge and the budget process. I am curious on why he is focusing on Hodge. This is the first time in years that the county commissioners have done something in trying to reduce the pain of paying property taxes. I know that my property taxes have doubled in the 10+ years that I have lived here. We all would have loved if the county kept the property taxes at the constant yield which would have meant a 6.3 cent reduction. But after a $5.5 million cut in state revenues flowing to Cecil County, we all should be happy about a 2 cent reduction. When is the last time any of us have seen a reduction?

It is amazing how folks can complain about the budget, yet never show up during the budget process. I am fiscally conservative and probably would have ideas where to cut more. But my priorities are not the same as everyone else in the county and a lot of people would not be happy. The budget process is a balancing act, not everyone will be happy.

Commissioner Hodge is only one voice along with 4 other commissioners. His job is also a balancing act. He is trying to present a lean budget while maintaining his promise to improve public safety and education. The budget will not be adopted until May 26, please voice your concerns with Commissioner Hodge and the others before the budget process is done, not after.

Property Tax Increase - Different Views

Two different interesting views on the recent property tax increase in the Whig on Friday from Terry Peddicord and Gene Cochrane. Terry had said that Delegate Smigiel and Senator Pipkin were grandstanding in their public stance against the increase during the commissioner's meeting. I don't know if I would have called it grandstanding, Mike's heart is in the right place and he does stand up for what he believes in and for the voters he represents. Terry wondered what did they want cut from the budget instead of not adjusting the effective rate. Gene had wondered where the public opposition was against the increase. I think Gene was right when he said that the opposition should have taken place a month ago when the budget process started.

I just don't know enough about the county budget to say which side is right or wrong. I know when it falls on your shoulder to make those budget decisions, it is not an easy task. But then again, we expect our elected officials to make the tough choices.

SEN. PIPKIN & DEL. SMIGIEL – "JUST SAY NO TO 10% TAX INCREASE – ENOUGH IS ENOUGH"

May 19, 2008




FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE


SEN. PIPKIN & DEL. SMIGIEL – "JUST SAY NO TO 10% TAX INCREASE – ENOUGH IS ENOUGH"

Senator E. J. Pipkin and Delegate Michael Smigiel, Republicans who represent the Upper Shore District 36, strongly rejected a 10% Cecil County property tax increase, declaring "No to the increase – enough is enough!" The county has increased the property tax for the past 12 consecutive years.

Pipkin and Smigiel will introduce legislation to lower taxes.

"After the approval of the highest tax increase in Maryland history in the November Special Session, which Delegate Smigiel and I fought against, it looks like Cecil County wants to climb onboard the tax-the-people-more bandwagon. A double-digit tax increase during a time of economic recession and soaring gas, electric and food prices is as merciless as it is obscene."

The public outrage over this ill-conceived increase was reflected at Tuesday's hearing. County residents protested. Delegate Smigiel pointed out, "Their protests were ignored."

"In short," said Pipkin, "it appears that as soon as the taxes are increased…the county spends the revenue… then, the county spends revenue it doesn't have… then the county complains about falling revenue… and seeks another tax increase." Smigiel called the process "the vicious cycle that keeps government's greedy hands in the citizens' pockets."

Pipkin and Smigiel, who both reside in Cecil County, urged their fellow county citizens to protest the tax grab when the proposed county budget will be voted on by the commissioners at the 7 p.m. meeting May 20 at the Charlestown Fire Hall.

Special Taxing District Meeting

Delegate Sossi and Delegate Smigiel hosted a special meeting yesterday the Rising Sun Public Library to discuss Special Taxing Districts. By now most of us are aware of the saga in the Cecil Whig about the in-fighting within the Cecil County Delegation about the Special Taxing Districts. The five county commissioners requested that the Delegation submit a bill to enable the county to designate Special Taxing Districts if they wished. This is were the problem started, the commissioners wanted residential areas to be included within the bill. Delegates Sossi and Smigiel, along with Senator Pipkin determined that they would not include residential areas within the bill. This is not what the commissioners wanted.

Some of the delegation wanted the vote to be delayed because not all members would be present. But the vote proceeded anyway and failed. It was decided by the majority of the delegation at a later date to have the vote again, when all of the members could be present. This in itself created a problem because according to Delegate Smigiel, when a vote fails, it is never voted on again during the same session. The led to even a bigger problem, what is a majority? When the smoke cleared, the vote was 4 in favor and 3 against. Delegate Smigiel stated that it failed to get a majority because with a delegation of 8, 5 would make a majority. Others disagreed and said that it passed because when 7 people vote, 4 becomes a majority. I would have to agree with that. Any vote and or election that I have participated in, it is the majority of the votes cast that wins, not the majority of potential votes.

So the end result was that the just the members of the delegation that voted in the affirmative, put forth their bills in the senate and legislation. This will most likely kill the bills, because most committee chairs are reluctant to move bills out of committee that do not have the full blessing of the delegation of the county that would be impacted by it.

I attended the meeting to find out what the Special Taxing Districts were and why they would be bad for the county. Delegate Smigiel stated that Special Taxing Districts for residential areas would lead to out of control growth. When asked if he had information to back up that claim, he could not present any. We heard that Middletown, Delaware was a good example for why the Special Taxing Districts would lead to out of control growth. Again there was no proof presented to back that claim, in fact, a lady that was at the meeting stated that she contacted Middletown and New Castle County officials and was told that Special Taxing Districts had no impact on Middletown. We were then told that these Districts were so bad, that bill had been submitted in both houses to repeal the authority for Special Taxing Districts in residential areas in Maryland. When I checked this morning, I could find no record of such a bill submitted by a Delegate and the Senate bill (SB381) only had one sponsor, Senator Rosapepe.

After leaving that meeting, I felt like that I was not convinced that the Special Taxing Districts would be such a bad thing for Cecil County. Zoning is definitely not working in controlling the growth and directing the growth to the areas that it should. I think that the thing that convince me that it could not such a bad thing is that Commissioner Demmler supported it. None one could ever claim that Becky would support out of control growth. I always try to keep an open mind and will listen to additional arguments, but until convince otherwise, I believe that the Special Taxing Districts is a tool that should be made available to the county.

Taxing Districts - Special Meeting

The 21st Century Republican Club will be hosting a special meeting on Saturday, March 1 at 3:00 p.m., at the Rising Sun Library. Senator Pipkin, Delegate Smigiel and Delegate Sossi will discuss their concern of taxing districts and the effect it could have on Cecil County. Everyone is welcome to attend.

Skip Yust, President

BaltimoreSun.com - House approves slots referendum

Lawmakers debated this morning how much local control should be imposed on a slots program. Several legislators expressed concern that local zoning laws would be superseded by a constitutional amendment, if approved by voters. Frederick County commissioners, for example, voted three years ago to change its zoning to prohibit a slots parlor.

"If you truly believe in one Maryland, if you truly care about local courtesy, at least give the citizens of Cecil County and other counties the opportunity to say, 'No, we don't want this,'" said Del. Michael D. Smigiel Sr., a Republican whose district includes Cecil and parts of Kent, Queen Anne's and Caroline counties.