In today's "Times - Record" our town manager is quoted as saying that "the housing crisis led to a decrease in revenue for the town". This is very misleading. Our problems preceded the global financial meltdown and THE HOUSING CRISIS HAS NOTHING WHAT SO EVER TO DO WITH THE DIRE STRAITS RIDGELY IS IN. It is true that part of the problem has to do with the fact that few developer fees are being collected because little is being built. HOWEVER, this is because the town simply doesn't have the sewer allocation to build which is why the town is upgrading its waste water treatment plant. The waste water treatment plant upgrade is meant to accommodate the planned and approved Ridgely Park development. This project could not go forward last year when the Maryland Department of Environment wouldn't sign off on it because of inadequate sewer capacity. Stop the spin and admit the mistake.
Further, the article is full of very deceptive numbers about "new" sources of revenue that will lead to a balanced budget. Where are the 58 housing permits the town manager speaks of? If they are out there somewhere, they are not for 2009 and will have nothing to do with this year's fiscal fiasco.
The bottom line is this. Spending was out of control at the same time revenues were down due to our sewer capacity problem. The commissioners passed balanced budgets which were not adhered to. AND, THE BUDGET SHOULD NOT BE BASED ON DEVELOPMENT REVENUES NOT YET PAID. OUR PROBLEMS IN RIDGELY ARE MANAGEMENT PROBLEMS, PLAIN AND SIMPLE. IT'S UP TO THE PEOPLE OF RIDGELY TO ELECT COMMISSIONERS WHO WILL FIX OUR PROBLEM ASAP.
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Because we all know, right now there is only ONE Commissioner paying attention. And the Town Manager is calling that Commissioner a pain. Of course she's a pain to him, she's asking him to be accountable!
Let's elect someone who will do their job, then force the other lame duck to resign!
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