Saundra McDavid

For what it is worth, here are my two cents based upon what I have read and heard about the budget workshop for the City of Eagle. In May the Mayor and the city department heads began meetings on the budget. In July, that budget was finished and presented to the City Council. The results were a disaster and clearly show Bandy is a tax and spend bureaucrat. Now it is up to the City Council to make the hard decisions and cut the spending in this time of economic slowdown.

According to a recent Eagle Informer article, Ada County voted to forego its allowable 3% budget increase, took it a step further, and actually decreased its budget by $1.3 million. By contrast, the budget Phil Bandy supported for the City of Eagle increased over last year. Ada County property taxes will not be increased. Mayor Bandy’s budget increases the property taxes for the City of Eagle residents. Ada County’s budget seeks to maintain county services. Bandy’s budget shows an increase in funds to selected committees, especially those committees chaired by members who were strong supporters of his during the election. Bandy’s proposed budget also includes an across the board pay increase for city staffers. These are the same staffers who have experienced a lull in activity and have now been seen shopping and recreating during work hours. One of the staff reportedly justified the inactivity as something along the lines of a “well deserved break” after a couple of hectic years in the planning department. The city residents shouldn’t be funding a break. Scrutinizing this line item closer, the budget shows that some of the department heads are already earning substantially more than similar positions in other cities. Yet these same staffers are receiving raises? Some of these staffers are already receiving over six figures!

Someone questioned on Voice of Eagle recently why the city hasn’t slimmed down its staff since development activity has slowed considerably. It’s ironic that in November 2007 Bandy and Guerber passed a “job protection” ordinance that prohibited the Mayor from removing city staffers without a majority of the City Council’s consent. This was done out of anticipation that I had won the mayoral election and a fear that I had plans on trimming down the city staff. What an interesting dilemma now that the city is overstaffed for the current level of inactivity. But Mayor Bandy has no plans to trim the personnel at City Hall; look at the budget he presented. He gave them all raises.

The budget workshop, which was supposed to take place over June and July but which was reduced to a single day during the last week of July (and a 4:00 pm follow up meeting the next day) was a disappointment. Any suggestions for reducing the budget were met with resistance and hostility by Mayor Bandy and Councilman Guerber. Not only did Bandy and Guerber publicly lose their tempers during the workshop and show their disrespect for a Councilman, they refused to consider suggestions on budget decreases when they realized some of the suggestions had come from an Eagle resident. Bandy actually demanded to know if that resident was a CPA, implying that only the Mayor, the Council and a CPA could understand a city budget. It doesn’t take a CPA to know that the residents of Eagle do not want to be burdened with another tax increase. It shouldn’t fall on deaf ears that the residents of Eagle demand a smaller government in a tough economy. And it should be obvious to everyone that the city staff was enlarged due to increased growth. So when growth has stalled and is no longer providing funding for Eagle city government, why is our Mayor now insisting that the residents pay the bill. Isn’t growth supposed to pay for itself?

The public hearing is on August 19th and the city calendar indicates that the Council has until September 3rd to finalize the budget. The draft that was finalized at the budget workshop is a disappointing baseline and an indication of the mindset of the Bandy administration. Tax and spend. It is up to our City Councilmen to fix it. Hopefully the budget that is presented to the public on August 19^th is one that reflects what the people of Eagle desire. Hopefully our elected (and appointed) City Councilmen will make the tough decisions that our Mayor was incapable of making.