Another Day, Another Millon Dollars

The City of Wentzville is preparing to present its 2010 General Fund Budget to the Aldermen next month, and as usual I expect all sorts of creative and self-serving ways to spend our tax dollars to increase the size of our City government. Last year the City Administrator gave a very easy-to-understand presentation, and afterward Mayor Lambi said that the staff did a great job trimming the budget. At that time the financial climate around town was terrible with foreclosures and loss of jobs leading the list. Rumors were soaring high above like circling buzzards that General Motors was going to file bankruptcy and it could have a great impact on the Wentzville plant. Cities across the Country were laying off employees and eliminating raises, but Wentzville's Government kept its blinders on tight and kept planting its fertile bureaucratic fields.

Disagreeing with the Mayor, I presented him a list of 15 items that could have been trimmed from the 2009 General Fund budget that added up to over $1 million of what I concluded was waste or unnecessary spending. He listened for a few minutes and said that I made some good points and that he would take it to the staff. Later that week he told me that there are reasons why they could not cut any of the suggestions I offered but I heard none. I requested a meeting with him and the City Administrator to hear their reasons for rejecting every single item on the list. I made the mistake of presenting my list before the meeting and when I got there the people in attendance were the Mayor, City Administrator, Finance Director, his assistant, and the two Aldermen who represent me in my ward. They buzzed through my list with a rehearsed rhetoric that made my head spin. The bottom line was, no cuts!

Some of the suggested cuts were:

1. COMPENSATION STUDY: This study is done every 3 or 4 years to check if our pay standards are commensurate with other municipalities. The general public always frowns on studies and this one (at this time) did raise eyebrows. Economic times and the fact that they placed a hiring freeze on the city should have driven this kind of study, not housekeeping. It appeared to me that the information gleaned from this study could have been learned by a few phone calls to other municipalities, and not have to pay some outside contractor an amount equivalent to a year’s salary for a Wentzville employee. The study was completed at the cost of $30,000 and the consultant stated; "The City did a great job on keeping up with salaries and compensations. In all areas, Wentzville either equalled or exceeded the test group of cities in St. Charles County." The result is that $30,000 was wasted.

2. WEBSITE DESIGN: Upgrading the city website to make it “more user friendly” is the reason for this item. The citizens are using the website now and there will always be those who will experience some confusion regardless of how “idiot proof” it is made. I argued, at this time, that this item is totally unnecessary. The website functions and I think most would agree that it functions as well as most sites on the Internet. The result is that $25,000 was spent on a new website.

3. PATROL CARS (5): Eight Wentzville patrol cars are on the department‘s revolving vehicle replacement program, and the city is recommending the replacement of five. It is a fact that our city needs to be kept safe through a ready and well-equipped police force, and there are certainly some cars that may need replacement. After looking at other communities in St. Charles County, there are communities our size and larger that have patrol cars in their fleet that are older than ours. The result is that they purchased the new cars for $134,855.

4. MOTORCYCLE PURCHASE: This called for the addition of one new city-owned motorcycle to replace one that is presently under a lease program. Wentzville has a fleet of 3 motorcycles. Police motorcycles are good during good weather and are mostly visible in parades or as escorts. According to the National Weather Service the Wentzville/St. Louis area experienced 81 days of measurable precipitation in the last 365 days and almost 35 days of below freezing weather. Although these cannot be added together, it is safe to say that there are at least 81+ days a year that motorcycles cannot be used, which is about 23-25% of the year. The City spent $17,000 for the new motorcycle.

5. DOCUMENT IMAGING: This item was included to “expand upon the 2008 project to encompass the needs of the entire city with the purchase of software and hardware capable of providing user friendly document storage and retrieving system.” Document storage and retrieval is being done currently and if the main reason is as stated to become more “user friendly,” it is a luxury and needs to be looked at when it becomes a necessity. Because of the economic tone today, making life easier for City employees cannot be justified. The city spent $125,000.

This represents only one-third of my list. As ridiculous as some of these sound, the staff justified each and every one and our Mayor and majority of our Aldermen rubber-stamped them. I talked with several Aldermen before the vote and the consensus on several items was, "Oh, I didn't see that," or "I'll look into it." I truly believe that when the 2009 General Fund Budget was given to our elected officials, 2 Aldermen read it, 2 Aldermen read the parts that applied to their pet projects, and 2 Aldermen went we-we-we-we, all the way home.

Since last year, General Motors did file bankruptcy and consequently eliminated two shifts from our local plant. With small and medium-size businesses failing and unemployment rising, the mid term General Fund Budget had to be adjusted. The City Administrator announced, "because of decreased revenue in order to balance the budget it is necessary to cut $1.1 million out of the General Fund." I sat in the back of the chambers shaking my head thinking, what geniuses they would have looked like if they would have taken even a portion of my list seriously. It is amazing that the City found $1.1 million in excess that they could cut to balance the budget.

It is the job of staff to promote their jobs and justify each employee's existence. They are there to propagate city government and make sure that every tax dollar collected assists in that endeavor. It is the job of each elected official to represent their constituents and protect them from waste spending. It is apparent that when our Aldermen condone spending as they have, they are not representing the citizens who elected them but rather being sold a bill of goods by our bureaucratic system and buying into it. It is the job of the Mayor to be on the lookout for waste spending and to veto bad legislation. It must be noted that during his 3 terms Mayor Lambi has never vetoed anything.

I urge Wentzville citizens to scrutinize the proposed 2010 budget, ask questions, and attend meetings. Watch your local government and get involved in the process or kiss your hard-earned tax dollars goodbye. Oh...and watch for more fees and taxes to be introduced!