40% INCREASE IN ASSESSMENTS?

February 28, 2005

I hope you are ready for the snow that has arrived. Flurries and slush
and then a couple of inches after dark. If it does get worse, please
tell me how road conditions, electric service or any other problems.

SNOW REMOVAL PROBLEMS?

I will help you with additional snow removal attention, but please be
patient. The VDOT road crews will first remove snow from primary streets
and then, later, make the secondary roads passable. I will call in
trouble areas that have not been attended to.

CAR TROUBLE?

If you need personal but urgent errands run, call me at 703-421-4599 and
I will run them for you, after the meetings or early before them. Walks
do need to be shoveled but if you are not able to, call me.

>>>MEETINGS EARLIER MONDAY AND TUESDAY

My Board meetings are scheduled all day Tuesday with the budget hearing
begins Wedesday at 3 p.m. to 6 p.m. and again from 6:30 to 10 or 11 p.m.
(I had meetings while it was snowing but several Monday night meetings
were cancelled).

>>>PUBLIC HEARING ON THE BUDGET -- THIS WEEK!

A public hearing on the budget is set for Wednesday, March 2, beginning
at 3 p.m. in the Board of Supervisors meeting room on the first floor
of the Government Center. A second session is set for 6:30 p.m. To
register in advance to speak, call 703-777-0204. Comments may also be
sent to the Board of Supervisors at [email protected], or call the citizen
hot line at 703-777-0115. You can bet county employees and teachers will
be demanding 8 per cent raises (which is their right).

We get hundreds of written messages, calls, and public pitches to SPEND
YOUR MONEY. If you agree and think taxes and spending are just right,
there's no need to send your email and your opinion. Thank you.

DO YOU HAVE AN OPINION ON BUDGET SPENDING?

You can write in as some others have written in. Or you can call in to
obtain a time slot to speak on Wednesday for 3 minutes. If necessary,
there will be another session Thursday starting at 3 p.m. There was a
mailing from TAG (Taxpayers for Accountable Government) that I got that
promotes tax reduction. And there was a larger more widespread mailing
promoting increased spending of $75 million paid for by Loudoun County
Schools. A similar mailing cost the taxpayers $8,500 last Fall. So now
it is routine for the School Board to spending at least $8,500 to
improperly lie to the public about this "budget process."

I salute the Taxpayers for Accountable Government for raising the funds
to privately send out their mailing.

I am not happy about and have spoken against the School Board for,
AGAIN, allowing the School Administrator to send out taxpayer paid for
propaganda demanding increased spending for everything under the sun as
"vital, essential, and necessary" which is not possible.

ASSESSMENTS WAY UP, BUDGET UP
TAXES PROPOSED AT $1.07

Assessments are up up up. And county administrator has followed majority
directions from work sessions in the Fall of 2004 to bring in a
"reasonable" (by majority of the board standards)budget of $1.23 billion
for county and school spending.

$50 MILLION IN SAVINGS, extra revenues and reductions.

I have proposed over $50 million in proposed reductions, privatization
and outsourcing ideas being worked on but "not for this budget" or were
voted down.

Many ideas I propose do require continued PUSHING and encouragement. The
Board for example does not know that a policy charging non-residents who
use Loudoun public parks and which would collect $1 million in increased
revenues, is NOT being implemented.

And many ideas have been accepted (the end of PDRS, the end of the
Supervisor TV Network as examples) as policy. Thanks to you and to the
board majority.

But many ideas that are wildly and loudly called for by citizen budget
critics actually do NOT receive majority support-- on the board of
supervisors-- because they are "pre-mature", "too early", "doubtful" or
"not workable by the county" or otherwise grumbled against by special
interests or county staff.

Visit my website for SOME (i.e. a partial listing) of some of Supervisor
Delgaudio's ideas for reduced spending.

http://joineugene.com/

Here's the url to go to for an online list of 25 links to studies and
opinions pushing Loudoun County to face the possibility that
NON-GOVERNMENT groups perform millions of dollars of service WITHOUT
USING TAX DOLLARS and make it unnecessary for the county to do the SAME
THING.

http://joineugene.com/library/

DELGAUDIO SAYS "WASTE AT EVERY TURN"

I know I sound like a broken record, but there is waste, unnecessary
spending and misrepresentation at every turn in the 4 corners of the
county government building.

It is hard for government employees to "betray" another branch of his
own county government. But there are many county employees (teachers and
county) that understand every dollar wasted is money that could be
scarce for their own budget!

There is no good reason for $500,000 to be spent for educational programs
like "CREATIVE RUBBER STAMP MAKING" or "PAPER MAKING" for adult
education by the school board. Taxpayers should be free of this program.

Or why a $1 million a year NO KILL animal shelter is less humane than
the County Loudoun Shelter which puts animals to "sleep". In public
testimony, a non-profit that has a large capacity and receives dogs from
all over receives "ZERO" DOGS referred by the county to them.

(I just heard that donated dog food was REFUSED by the county animal
shelter!)

Your job, if you decide to do it, is to tell your supervisors to make
judgements in your favor and not necessarily to agree with the judgement
of county staff ALL THE TIME.

If you agree, ask supervisors to work to privitize now, not in 5 years.

Or, ask supervisors to work to develop criteria to privitize faster and
to get completely out of (abolish)

**giving 8 per cent raises to most co. employees ($12 million in savings)

**government run animal shelters, ($300,000 in savings)

** government run poverty action agencies ($300,000 in savings)

** public video stores, ( $250,000 in savings)

**garbage dumps, ($750,000 in savings)

**drug awareness ($500,000 in savings)(rather than drug intervention),

** adult education, ($500,000 in savings)

** obesity instruction, **bullying propaganda, ($500,000 wasted)

** pro-gay rights brainwashing, ($250,000 in non-acadmic pursuits)

** gigantic Fifty Meter public swimming pools ($1.2 million extra fat)

** "performing arts centers" in western loudoun ($2 million)

** 400 year old Aldie Mill museum ($1 million)

** all "preservation" sink holes

** $250,000 To Hire Lawyers to Sue Utilities which you pay for!

** $500,000 IN TAX EXEMPTIONS FOR LIBERALS WHO DRIVE BRAND NEW $25,000
"H Y B R I D" CARS!

** 99 acre county parcels for use in 100 years ($10 million in savings)

and ask Sups to end corporate welfare for billion dollar
"non-profits"like the Howard Hughes Institute where executives get
$300,000 a year. (worth $6,000,000 for HHI alone in revenue lost)

(REPEAT)PUBLIC HEARING ON THE BUDGET -- THIS WEEK!

>>>Pr. William Property Tax Cut Proposed
>>>Rate Would Fall 15 Cents, Mitigating Rise in Values

Liberal Washington Post reports (quote)"Prince William County homeowners
would see a cut of nearly 15 cents in the property tax rate under a
spending plan proposed yesterday to the county supervisors.

The reduction is the largest proposed so far in Northern Virginia as
localities launch the spring budget season. Real estate values have
skyrocketed throughout the area, and taxpayers have clamored for cuts in
the rate at which their property is taxed." (unquote)

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/articles/A45358-2005Feb22.html

>>>>Eastern Homes See Biggest Price Jump

Feb 25, 2005 -- Loudoun homeowners began receiving assessment notices
Tuesday that showed real estate values in the east grew faster during
the past year than those in the west.

http://www.leesburg2day.com/current.cfm?catid=17&newsid=10279

HERE ARE SOME TAXPAYERS WHO SAY ENOUGH IS ENOUGH

LISA SAYS "Personally, my assessment increased almost $100,000 from
2004. This is a 20% increase over prior year. I've read in the papers
that you are considering reducing the rate to about $1.07. However,
given the increase in assessments, in order to keep the tax burden the
same, you'd have to actually lower the rate to $0.94."

SANDRA SAYS "I believe home owners are being gouged."

WARD SAYS "I'm sorry, it is irresponsible to keep raising taxes without
cutting
spending to match. I have a good job but I do not get double digit
raises every year."

CARL SAYS (I wish )"to convey my alarm about the meteoric increase in my
taxes."

JEFFREY SAYS "Prince William County is discussing lowering property tax
rates by $.155 and
Fairfax is discussing a $.10 cent reduction. Loudoun..... is only
discussing a $.03 cent reduction which is rather absurd considering that
the assessed values on homes have
gone up almost 20% if not higher...."

HAROLD DECLARES "The continued rise in property taxes paid by homeowners
is out of control. ...... return to a tax rate of $1.04/$100."

>>>>WHAT DO YOU THINK? DO YOU AGREE WITH LISA, SANDRA, WARD, JEFFREY
AND HAROLD?

Tell your opinion to the board so that they know your thoughts.

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