I’m here because my 2017 proposed property tax increase of 20.6 percent and the previous 147 percent increase since 2011 is an insult and serious financial threat and burden to myself, my neighbors in rural Cook County, and all county property owners.
The current board and specifically Kirk, Sivertson and new Administrator Cadwell have done a disgracefully inept job of managing the business of Cook County taxpayers in an intelligent and financially responsible manner. There is no service we receive in this rural county that warrants the excessive tax burdens that continually get requested and approved.
This board’s proposed 20 percent increase and the struggle to pare it down to 10 percent demonstrates their disconnect and contempt for taxpayers and their questionable (incestuous) relationship with a select group of business acquaintances.
After last year’s highest in the state 8.5 percent tax increase the board and new administrator failed to respond with any corrective action. All county hiring should have been frozen; department heads instructed to reduce their budget by mandatory percentage cuts and the renegotiating of employee health care costs, overdue by 25 years, should have been immediately initiated.
Instead, Cadwell, who’s responsible for supervising department heads and full-time liaison to the board proved how ill-equipped he is to earn his pay in this position. The administrator allowed department spending excesses, new hiring without pre-budgeting, no insurance negotiating, increases instead of decreases or elimination in discretionary spending, and of course special deals for his new best friends at the EDA, Superior National, Visit Cook County, and of course the YMCA among others.
It’s easy spending other people’s money, but considerably harder to run a big government unit responsibly and efficiently. You all volunteered for your paid positions here in Cook County, and you all claimed you were capable and qualified. Some of you were mistaken.
You recently claimed that you were blindsided by health care costs and yet for years you’ve failed to address them and protect the taxpayers’ interest from current and future unfunded liabilities amounting to $100,000’s and possibly millions of dollars. Some of these problems have been handed down to the current board, but some of you have been around long enough to have tackled this issue previously. You deceived taxpayers about the YMCA cleaning contract being vague and upped our cost to that facility (which only serves the Grand Marais population) without reason. You dabble in affordable housing and hypocritically spend the tax money so that no housing in our county is affordable. But, then again this is just another special deal for your big buddies to profit from.
You’ve made excuses, and no the dog didn’t eat your homework, you failed to do it all year. You’ve been goofing off in meetings all over the state and returned unprepared for this job without an experienced administrator to guide you. You’ve made promises you can’t keep. Now you want and expect county taxpayers to pay for your failure to do and understand your job. You’re not asking employees, the EDA, and the chamber or friends to pay for your mistakes; you’re telling us to. If these entities which have wallowed in our tax dollars for years had returned our investment, we would not be faced with double-digit tax proposals.
You and previous boards have failed to grasp, understand, and train your employees, (our employees) that the taxpayers of our county are their employers. That your job and their job is to provide quality and efficient service at the lowest possible cost to the citizens of Cook County every day. That message was delivered to me in 1978 from my county manager and re-enforced annually for 32 years. It should be delivered by our board and department heads also.
If you’re willing to move forward on budget work, you should include department supervisors, employee union representatives, and some employees to participate in preparing this and other budgets. They should be involved and invested to gain insight and trust in the daunting budget process that must happen yearly. They will be a valuable resource, and it will build a better group as time goes on.
This board has much work to do to clean up the mess you’ve been part of creating, if you’re not willing or capable, please quit now and go back to New York where you claim you enjoy being and let us hire people willing and qualified to do this job.
Commissioner Moe is correct, 4 percent should be a maximum for any tax, and Lloyd Speck is also right, there are many capable people living here that can offer assistance to this board and process, and not all of them have their hand out looking for something.
As we’ve learned, elections have consequences, and new appointments can be brief.
Charlie Muggley, taxpayer
Schroeder
Editor’s note: Charlie Muggley came prepared to deliver the previous information at the Tuesday, December 20 county board meeting. Because of a two-minute cap on speaking, Mr. Muggley was unable to deliver his presentation. These are his views and his alone.
Leave a Reply