Throughout the 3rd Congressional District race Mayor Steve Womack has touted his fiscally disciplined ways with the Roger’s city budget.
So it seemed fair to look at Rogers’ budget, available on line, and actually see if his words matched his actions. How has he handled the hard earned money of Rogers’ taxpayers?
Just a little bit of ciphering led me to believe that perhaps the Mayor embellished his record a tad.
For example, the Rogers’ Museum takes in about $6150 in revenue but operates on a budget of over $501,000? Salaries and benefits tally over $371,000 alone. In fact, museum employee’s salaries have increased over 75% since 2005.
If that were just one city budget I might overlook it. But there is more.
The recycling center, which I was sure would turn a small profit or perhaps operate more revenue neutral has projected sales of $150,000 for FY2010. However, the Recycling Center pays over $212,000 in salaries and benefits and has a total budget of $281,854 in FY2010 costing taxpayers $131,854.
Roger’s has an impressive Parks system which is projected to bring in $209,661 this year. Wow, that’s great. But hold on to your pocketbooks, the Park system pays out over $1.3 million dollars in salaries and benefits. The citizens of Rogers’ will spend $2.5 million dollars on their parks system in FY2010.
Surely, the program Mayor Womack would like to expand to other cities across the country, the Adult Wellness Center, at least breaks even. The AWC takes in an impressive $358,000. The gym pays out salaries and benefits of just over $335,000, but goes on to spend over $758,000. If memory serves me Roger’s Mayor promised that this program wouldn’t cost tax payers a dime because it would be paid with membership dues and run by volunteers. Maybe it will work differently on a national level because that is certainly not the case for taxpayers in the city of Rogers.
Mayor Womack boasted in a congressional debate that he has $19 million in taxpayer dollars held in reserves. Wouldn’t a true fiscal conservative set aside a reasonable amount in a rainy day fund and then think about how to return the excess taxes to tax payers?
And last but certainly not the least of worries is the hefty pay raise Rogers’ Mayor Womack has received during his tenure. It went from $43,216 when he took office to currently $115,003. It was reported by the Tolbert Report that a “normal inflationary increase during this time period would put it around $56,000.”
It seems Mayor Steve Womack’s budgeting principles are the same budgeting strategies fiscal conservatives are trying to alleviate in Washington D.C.
5 comments:
Womack's salary did increase alot, however, what you aren't saying is how much less Womack made his first year than the previous mayor did. And Womack may not be perfect, but at least he wasn't a reliable vote for Dems Like Bledsoe. And he was never called "furniture".
Dylan- I just stick with the facts. did you read the post and see his record?
The fact Womack took a pay cut, it was actually the first two years, justifies his raising his salary 166%.
Name calling is so yesterday (high-school verbiage used intentionally)
Cecile has a record that is much more conservative and reliable than Womack. This is not a personal preference nor a popularity contest.
I did not chose Cecile because I like her better or I received something, I chose her because of the facts. She is more conservative than Womack, she is more experienced than Womack, she is much more approachable and reasonable than Womack. I have no other stake in this race than to elect the person who will be the best congressman of the ones available.
I encourage people to get the facts and lay the name calling aside~
I've never heard of parks and museums being expected to be budget neutral, and I do support his raise. Just over $50k for a mayor of a city growing as quickly as Rogers is poor. It would hurt the city's ability to attract excellent people to the job.
That said, I don't think there was a dramatic difference between these two candidates. I would have preferred, say, a Skoch, but as it came down to Bledsoe and Womack, I didn't feel very heavily invested in the outcome of this runoff.
And even though I voted for Womack, I appreciate the work you did to let us know about these two candidates. I read your posts before casting my vote, and they certainly helped me to make a more informed choice.
that is all a person can ask for~
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