What happens when the wheels fly off your local governmnet

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I don't know if there are any fellow Bedford residents on the board - but when a city our size can't afford to keep a library open - something's gone horribly wrong.


Battle over property tax rate is dividing line in council races
06:52 PM CDT on Saturday, April 16, 2005
By LAURIE FOX / The Dallas Morning News


Two challengers have filed to run against two incumbents for Bedford City Council seats and the candidates are divided over the same issue that has divided the city: whether the property tax rate should have been raised last fall and the fight to roll it back.

A contentious tax rollback in March passed by just 10 votes, prompting the city to temporarily close the library, an activity center, tennis courts, the city pool and water park, and delay hiring seven more police officers and buying a new ambulance and firetruck. An anonymous donor Friday contributed $300,000 to re-open the facilities.

Current council members Alicia McGlinchey and Pam Conley voted for the property tax increase that led to the rollback effort. They also were among the majority of the council members to approve the recent facility closings as a way to balance the budget after the rollback.

Ms. McGlinchey and Ms. Conley said the cuts were needed but the council worked diligently to avoid the move.

Former council member Charles Orean, 59, an insurance risk analyst, is challenging Ms. Conley in Place 4. Bob Whistler, 67, a national sales manager, is challenging Ms. McGlinchey, for her Place 6 seat.

Both men said the council is not paying close enough attention to how the city spends its money.

After years of keeping the property tax rate stable, the City Council last fall approved a 27 percent tax-rate increase, from 38.9 cents to 49.5 cents per $100 of assessed property value.

Those who voted for the move said several important expenses – like hiring more police officers and buying new emergency vehicles – had been put off and were sorely needed.

Members of Bedford Citizens for Responsive Government balked and pushed for the tax rate to be moved back to around 40 cents.

They say they're not convinced the city's budget is in as much jeopardy as city officials contend.

Rollback opponents say they want fiscally conservative City Council members to tackle the next budget this summer.

Mr. Orean was a longtime council member who retired from the council in 1999. He is known as a defender of lower property taxes and said he's running again because he was troubled by the large tax rate increase approved last year.

All four candidates, no matter on which side of the rollback they fall, said the issue has brought valuable lessons.

Ms. Conley, 51, a community volunteer, said she hopes residents will learn to keep tabs on such issues in the future.

"What it's going to take for this city to get back on its feet is for the citizens to get involved in the process," Ms. Conley said. "This situation didn't come up overnight. It's been building for years."

Mr. Orean, meanwhile, said the rollback election should cause city leaders to find ways to become more efficient.

"We've learned that 50 percent of people don't want their taxes raised – or raised 27 percent," he said. "The other 50 percent want services and are willing to pay for them.

"How do you satisfy those two groups? If you give people enough information, I don't believe that there would be sufficient support for a rollback."

Ms. McGlinchey, 39, a lawyer who is now a stay-at-home mother, said the rollback has revealed that Bedford needs more income from other sources besides taxes.

"We've taken cost-cutting as far as it can go," she said. "We have to have a tax rate that's reasonable and economic development. We have to live within our means, but we can't have the city we want with the money we have right now."

Mr. Whistler said the city simply can't live beyond its means.

"The reason that the city is in the shape that it's in is because we've been divided for some time now. We need someone to look at the risks of some of the things they've been doing."