Newspapers / Winston-Salem chronicle. / June 3, 1999, edition 1 / Page 7
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FORUM ; A Changing Course Budget for Winston-Salem j Vernon Robinson Guest Columnist ? ? For some time a group of elites '! has contemptuously thumped their ; noses at the taxpayers of Winston ? Salem. They have led a majority of ? the city's elected officials around on a I leash. I This downtown crowd supported ? a bond referendum that was crushed ; at the polls by 3-1 and 4-1 margins ; and then successfully got the Board ? of Aldermen to use two-thirds bond ! money to fund those projects defeat ' ed at the polls regardless of voter sen ? timent. They have used city-county orga | nizations and the Board of County ; Commissioners to shift costs to Win ? ston-Salem residents and tax revenue I to the county. They supported a base ; ball tax that would have given the ; power of eminent domain to the ' county commissioners to seize peo ple's homes, farms and other real ; property to build a baseball stadium i for millionaire players and millionaire owners. | For too long these people have used the public treasury to finance their pet charities though hundreds of non-profits in Winston-Salem con tribute greatly to our community without taxpayer subsidies. The result of this spending spree is that Winston-Salem has the highest ratio of non-public safety city employees per 1,000 residents in the state, higher even than Greensboro and Durham. While per capita spending in Winston-Salem contin ues to rise, the per capita burden of government on the citizens in Char lotte and Raleigh continues to fall. It is past time to change course. The Changing Course Budget that we propose has three goals. Elim inate wasteful and inappropriate spending, discharge the government's constitutional duties of public safety and road infrastructure, and lower the tax burden on families and other taxpayers. The Changing Course Budget accomplishes this feat by cut ting spending $6.24 million; removing the proposed rain tax increase of $850,000; cutting taxes on real, per sonal, utility, and vehicle property 10 percent or $6.24 million dollars. The resulting Changing Course Budget total taxpayer savings is $7.1 million. The first step in changing course is the elimination of contingency slush funds that allow politicians to spend un budgeted money without an amendment to the budget resolution. If you recall, the laigest slush fund expenditure in the fiscal year was a gift to the Mexican National Special Olympics Team for "eco nomic development" purposes. This money did not go to Hispanic-Amer icans or even resident aliens living in Winston-Salem. It went to guys from Mexico City. We don't need a slush fund to finance a foreign policy. Sav ings to the taxpayer $350,000. The next step to change course is maintaining employee raises so that they do not exceed die rate of tax rev enue increases. For some time, city employees have received pay raises of 4 percent annually while personal incomes in Forsyth County have increased at a fraction of that rate and the increase in tax revenues has lagged behind the pay increases by 50 to 100 percent. This ill-advised policy is structurally unsound and will force a tax increase in the future if it not stopped now. The Changing Course Budget offers a 2 percent pay increase for city workers. Savings to the tax payer: $917,000. The third step is to return some of the revenue windfall to the taxpayers and spending the rest on critical road infrastructure. The "corporate wel fare" budget proposed by the city manager spends all of the windfall. Spending it all would now be pro posed if two-thirds bond spending on projects rejected by the voters had not taken place A more modest capital program emphasizing roads results in a savings to the taxpayer of $1,350,000. While the private sector has replaced huge middle management bureaucracies with people who man age themselves and computers that monitor systems, the taxpayers' wal let and purse have borne the brunt of the failure to achieve these savings in city government. The level of assistant city manag er is as relevant today as the horse and buggy. The Changing Course Budget eliminates a vacant position and eliminates the assistant city man ager for corporate welfare, the lobby ist and their offices. Savings to the taxpayer. $549,770. The next step to changing course is to eliminate general fund subsidies to private corporations in the corpo rate welfare operation. The parking deck deal, where in exchange for $500,000 annual lease payments the city was to get $500,000 of property taxes, is a great example why the tax payers get rolled in these deals. Instead of the estimated amount, the bank in question challenged the tax valuation of the building. Further, tlrebity staff did not take into consid eration depreciation and assumed that the property tax rate would stay constant for 20 years. Annual loss to the taxpayers on, the parking deck deal: $128,000. Savings to the taxpay ers by ending corporate welfare with general fund revenue: $855,000. The city has $5 million tied up in vacant positions. Eliminating some of the vacant non-public safety posi tions would result in an annual sav ings of $750,000. The city should not fund advoca cy groups at all and should not use the power to seize people s property to pay taxes so that politicians can fund their favorite charities. For example. Experiment in Self Reliance, received money earmarked to help the poor. Instead, the organi zation purchased a membership at the swanky private Piedmont Club. The Winston-Salem Journal suggest ed last year that rather than using this tax money to fund police office posi tions, it should be returned to the tax payers. We agree. Savings to taxpayers by eliminating spending on political chanties and advocacy groups: $1,175,520. Wachovia would get a $33,000 tax cut on the white-domed headquarters building downtown alone. If Wachovia so chooses, it, rather than the taxpayers, can pay the $25,000 the Downtown Development Corp. wants from the city. If Wachovia so chooses, it can give the remaining $8,000 to left-of-center groups like the Council on the Status of Women and Forsyth County Common Vision, now funded, in part, by the city of Winston-Salem. Our tax cut means one day of work less for oppressed homeowners. They can spend an hour each day for eight days reading to the elderly. Or they can mentor a child for an hour a week for two months at their child's school. Or they can work that day and give $51 to the Arts Council. Whichever option homeowners choose, it will be real charity through voluntary association rather than political charity compelled by the tax system and the police power that backs up tax collection. The Changing Course Budget gives taxpayers relief while perform ing the duty of government to pro vide public safety and road infra structure. And it is high time in com ing. Vernon Robinson is alderman of the South Ward Steve Whiton is alderman of the Southwest Ward They are authors of the Changing Course City Budget. Robinson made a small college big I Marshall Bass Guest Columnist Dr. Prezell Russell Robinson is writing his memoirs, recounting his life for us, I am sure that is keyed around the quarter-century he spent as president of Saint Augustine's Col lege in Raleigh, one of three histori cally black Episcopal colleges in the United States. "Robbie," as his intimates call him, is a dear friend of mine We are both Episcopalians and both of us served our country in the U.S. Army. . We met just after my retirement from the Army more than 30 years ago. At the early point of my long second career in human resources, public and governmental affairs at RJR/Nabis co, I made linkages to HBCUs a cen tral focus of our corporate account abilities. For the last seven years of Robin son's presidency at Saint Augustine's, I had the pleasure of serving as chair man of the board of trustees. It was during those years that I really came to know this extraordinary man up close, and I am pleased that through his memoirs, others too will come to appreciate this giant in our midst. ? In a spiritual way Robinson's life is much like the namesake of the col lege for which he served as president. Saint Augustine of Algeria served as 1 a pastor, teacher and judge to the ; people of North Africa during the ? third century. Later exalted as a saint, ? Augustine was not always a Catholic, ' just as Robinson has not always been an Episcopalian, While my friend's self-account won't likely reach the acclaim of Saint Augustine's "Confessions," the way he defendedthe honor of historically black colleges at a critical time is of relative equal measure v When he took the helm of the college in 1966, white colleges were recruiting the top black students and faculty. Money from foundations became scarce due in part to the racial tensions of those days, much of * it spearheaded by black college stu dents. In the midst of such uncertain ties, Robinson led a $35 million fund raising drive and met the goal five years ahead of schedule. At the same time he, in effect, took the helm of all HBCUs when he was elected to head the United Negro College Fund as well as the network-. ing agency representing public black colleges, the National Association for Equal Educational Opportunity. Robbie was a staunch and articu late defender of HBCUs He took a simple tact, saying matter-of-factly in 1968, "The predominantly black col lege has done more to ensure freedom and social justice for blacks than any other institution in * this country....One day the American peo ple will see that these little private black colleges are not academic wastelands" In 1966 he was chosen as "one of the most effective college presidents" Ranked in the top five percent of more than 3,300 U.S: college presi dents Robinson was nominated mul tiple times by his peers to the Wash *. ington-Based Council for Advance ment and Support of Education. He stood, tall in the international circles of higher education, having been selected as a Fulbright Scholar to India. The U.S. State Department designated him as a special education envoy to Nigeria, South Africa, Botswana, Zambia and Zimbabwe in 1981. Because of his understanding of national and international issues both Presidents Bush and Clinton named him a delegate to the United Nations, On his watch, nearly 15 per cent of the student body at Saint Augustine's hailed from , the Bahamas, where he is still quite liter ally revered. He accepted more than a dozen honorary degrees from some of America's most prestigious cob leges and universities. Reflecting his commitment to education throughout his presidency, Robbie never turned an otherwise qualified student away from the col lege because of lack of financial means He literally "beat the. pave ment" throughout this nation to raise funds for the well-being of the col lege. When he retired from his nearly four decades of association with Saint Augustine1^ in 1995, he left a legacy of solid financing; the endow ment at that time was just less than $219 million and the student body had grown from about 400 to just less than 1,800. When a large portion of our nation was protesting the military establishment during the Vietnam War, Robbie's sense of patriotism brought to the campus a Reserve Officers Training Corps, which has received national acclaim. Also, the record will show that during his administration, nearly every building on the campus was either constructed or renovated. At the time of his retirement, a new men's residence hall was more than 50 percent completed. One of the new buildings constructed during his administration - the library - was named in his honor. Today, Robbie is president emeri tus of Saint Augustine's College and the Mott Distinguished Professor of Social Sciences. When I mentioned to L William Friday, the retired president of the University of North Carolina system, that Robinson was writing his memoirs, Friday sdid: "When one thinks of Saint Augustine's College, we think of PrezeH Robinson. He served on the State Board of Higher Education and has served this state notably. He has effectively represent ed our state at home and abroad. He is truly one of North Carolina's finest educators and citizens. It has been a joy to know this man. I look forward to reading his memoirs." > There is a bit of the spirit of Saint Augustine, in Robinson. He is a great Episcopalian, a remarkable college administrator and a great American. If it were left to me, I would encour age him to at least subtitle it "The Confessions of Saint Augustine's Greatest President.'' But he is modest to a fault. I once .heard him react to excessive praise by saying, "The recognition given me reflects something that is good at Saint Augustine's College Personal recognition is OK. It has its place But it becomes very elusive if one sets out to find it. I work and let the chips fall where they may." The chips front his forward-looking and cutting-edge philosophy and approach fell in good places. They fell in a big pile affirm ing his professional motto: "Black colleges can make it and make it in a big way." - ? The author is president of Mar shall R Bass and Associates, a man agement consulting firm based in Winston-Salem. He retiredfrom RJR-Nabisco in 1991 as an elected senior vice-president. i The Chronicle's e-mail address is: _ 4 ? ' > wschron@netunlimited.net ?/ ^ . | NORTH CAROLINA | _ ImuTeu'^I * JR MODEL TRAIN SHOW 1 AND SALE * 4 JUNE 5 & 6 * ? AT THE NORTH CAROLINA TRANSPORTATION MUSEUM 10:00AM TO 4:00PM BOTH DAYS $3.00 PER PERSON OR FREE WITH RAIL DAYS PASS , CHILDREN UNDER 12 ARE FREE M ?j?kI 411 S. SALISBURY AVE., SPENCER ?i T. (877) NCTMFUN OR (704) 636-2889 |^\ ^vvt|. Injuries from car accidents can lead to . W|fl pain, stiffness, numbness, headaches and even arthritis. K. V^l We can help. Dr. Gentle is specially ?*331 ^Hr trained to understand and treat - S* whiplash injuries. "' bubsb Ik nL Calf today for a FREE information ? 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