Lower Merion Citizens for Responsible Budgeting
Letter to Editor Mainline Life Re: 2008 Budget
December 10 , 2007
Letter to the editor:
Last week, Lower Merion Township held its second and final public hearing on the 2008 Proposed Budget. A vote is scheduled for December 19, and unless the budget is amended, the Board of Commissioners will authorize an increase in spending that is twice the current rate of inflation as measured by the Municipal Cost Index. Citizens for Responsible Budgeting (www.lmcrb.org) seeks to fully understand the budget proposal and process and, therefore, attended and participated in both hearings.
Ten Commissioners have now publicly expressed concern about the growth in spending. Their concerns are justified and we urge the Board to not delay until next year the “heightened examination of our costs” Manager Cleland says will be necessary (page (page M-38). We see several beneficial developments from this year’s budget process and want to encourage the commissioners in their efforts: Commissioner Gordon assured the public that Commissioners guide Township staff on the budget but outside of public view and in a manner that “could be more transparent”. We urge the Board to increase transparency. Vice President Phillips called for a return to the “budget Saturday” practice of Department Heads explaining their budget requests to the Board in public. We support increased oversight and policy guidance made in public. President Reed described the minority Commissioner’s efforts to reduce spending as “intriguing”. We urge Mr. Reed to work with the concerned Commissioners to address the Township’s “systemic expenditure problem”.
CRB was surprised at Manager Cleland’s reaction to our conclusion that the Township is requesting authority to spend 6.2% more in 2008 than it will spend in 2007. He expressed “disappointment” and suggested CRB was “trying to make people look bad”. We were not trying to make anyone look bad, but we do stand by our analysis and conclusion. The 2008 Budget proposal documents 2007 Estimated Actual spending of $49.9 million and the 2008 Budget request of $53.0 (page M-14). These numbers reveal a 6.2% increase in 2008 requested spending over 2007 actual spending (53M - 49.9M ÷ 49.9M = 6.2%). While Cleland is forecasting that the Township will spend $900,000 less in 2008 than he is requesting (page M-14), and CRB does not question his sincerity or track record, such “cost containment” cannot be guaranteed. In an attempt to explain cost containment to the public, Commissioner George Manos correctly described it as a “cushion”. We urge the Board to remove the cushion now; the more than $8 million general fund reserve is a fully adequate cushion for unbudgeted expenses.
If the Board adopts this budget as proposed, it will authorize a 6.2% increase in spending with no recourse if the “cost containment” that the Board is presuming in order to justify the requested increases is not realized. CRB believes it is fiscally irresponsible to authorize a 6.2% increase in spending and urges the Board to reject the budget with instruction to Manager Cleland to submit an alternative budget request holding spending growth to 3.7% over 2007 estimated actual spending.
Michele von Plato
Citizens for Responsible Budgeting