LETTERS TO THE EDITOR - IN
MY VIEW
Saginaw News
203 S. Washington
Saginaw, Ml 48607-1283
Dear Editor:
JUST THE FACTS
In 1979, the City Charter was amended;
imposing both a property tax rate cap and a tax dollar cap on the amount of
property tax revenues the City of Saginaw could impose on property owners
within the City.
To determine the effect of the rate caps, the
Mayor requested a fact-finding committee gather the pertinent information and
report back to Council. The Committee submitted its findings and the CPA firm
of Yeo and Yeo reviewed the procedures and certified the accuracy of the
information provided. It was confirmed that the imposed dollar cap of
$3,828,778 prevented the City from potentially collecting $49,769,803 in
revenue from 1979 to 2002, an annual average of $2,073,742 over 24 years.
It was further confirmed that the adjusted
tax rate cap of 7.5
mils prevented the City from potentially
collecting $35,415,119 in property tax revenue from 1979 to 2002, an annual
average of $1,475,630 over 24 years.
Additionally, it was confirmed that the tax
dollar cap prevented the City from potentially collecting $1,528,926 in State
Revenue Sharing from 1979 to 2002. The property tax rate cap cost the City
potential $5,099,239
in State Revenue Sharing.
Based on this information
the City Council voted to place ballot questions 1 and 2 on the November ballot
asking the citizens of Saginaw to remove the caps and question 3 eliminating
the emergency 3 mills
provision.
The fact is that the City has been operating
on 1979 dollars without a raise in General Fund Revenues or adjustment for
inflation for 24 years. City management has responded to this revenue challenge
by not filling vacancies, eliminating departments and increasing workloads.
Additionally, essential services have been
reduced. Uniformed police have been reduced from 194 in 1978 to 124 in 2002, a
36% reduction.
Sworn firefighters have been reduced from 138
in 1978, to 90 in 2002, a 35% reduction.
In total, since 1980, departments and
divisions have seen a 43% in staff reductions, from 981 in 1980 to 555 in 2002.
In comparison, the US Census Bureau confirmed
that the Saginaw population decreased 23.42% from 1978 to 2002. It is evident
that City Management has performed responsibly in meeting the revenue
challenges the tax cap and revenue cap have created.
City Management has been able to stay within the limits of its financial resources.
Unfortunately, this can no longer continue without further essential service
reductions. The time has come for the residents of Saginaw to respond by
investing in their City.
If your home has a market value of 50,000,
removing the tax and revenue caps will be an investment of an additional $.30 a
day. A home with a market value of 110,000, will invest an additional $.67 a
day.
An investment in Saginaw is an investment in
your property value, your quality of life and the future of your City.
It’s as easy as 1,2,3 REMOVE THE CAPS. INVEST
IN SAGINAW. VOTE YES on Ballot Questions: One, two and three on Tuesday,
November 5, 2002.
Sincerely,
Paul Virciglio
Fact Finding Committee
Saginaw Resident