Geneva spending out of line

Geneva is a great place to work during the recession if you happen to be on the taxpayer payroll.

Last year, District 304 teachers were awarded a nearly 10-percent pay increase over three years. This year the nonunion city employees received 2-percent merit pay increases, and union employees received about a 3-percent increase.

A few aldermen actually questioned the wisdom of pay raises in these brutal economic times, but they were talked down by the city administrator and other aldermen. In the end, the city council approved the raises along with the rest of the budget.

Makes me wonder what else is in the budget that doesn't need to be there. The council claims the budget is balanced. However, I submit that they are not adequately preparing for the continued decline in sales tax revenue, reduced property tax revenue as a result of plummeting real estate values and that Geneva may never see another dime from our bankrupt state of Illinois. The budget needs to be more than balanced, it needs to be greatly reduced.

If revenue is so strong, why were we asked to approve a hike in the local sales tax? Why did the city of Geneva recently raise their share of the telecommunications tax to the maximum amount allowed by law? Why are we being asked to pay more for our water?

They keep asking for more when we have less to give. It has to stop.

In addition the city employees were given a brand new paid holiday in January. In the private sector benefits are being cut, hours are being reduced and furlough days have been implemented, but in Geneva we are adding new holidays. When I questioned Mayor Burns about the timing and cost of this new benefit, he responded to me that the costs were "insignificant" compared to the benefit and importance of the holiday. Really? When I hear our public officials use the word "insignificant" when talking about the value and spending of our very hard earned tax dollars, I think it is time for them to re-evaluate their sense of duty and obligation to us, the taxpayer. Maybe it is time for them to step aside.

Dick Graff

Geneva