The City of Mobile Budget Crisis

  Like most cities in the United States, the city of Mobile is facing difficult times. For the last two years the Mayor and council have been battling over the Mayor's desire to raise the sales tax rate to 10 percent. The city of Mobile already has one of the highest sales tax rates in the nation but Mayor Sam Jones has despite several rejections continually assaulted the council and the citizens of Mobile with endless requests for what he has deceptively called the 'penny tax'.

  For much of the last several months, the official line on the need for the increased taxation was the Mayor's assumption that we would be 29 million dollars in the hole for the coming fiscal year. For months at various council and finance committee meeting we have heard this figure debated despite little evidence for the 'magic number' of 29 million in deficit. Finally after much wrangling an independent and volunteer finance committee from each district came to the conclusion that the figure was inaccurate and that the deficit was more likely around 2 million at most. The 29 million figure was arrived at by various decisions arbitrarily made by the Mayor and his staff to jack up the deficit none of which were required by law or necessity. The political cries of Mobile 'going down in flames ' to quote District 1 representative Fred Richardson have left the frightened and frustrated public wondering who to trust with their money. Is there a severe deficit? For what reason exactly are we being asked to pay 10 percent on every purchase we make in the city including food and medicine?

  Last night (August 23rd) I attended an open meeting hosted by City Councilwoman Bess Rich of District 6 to discuss the budget crisis with Mayor Sam Jones and several other important city officials in attendance including 2 members of the volunteer finance committee. The Mayor introduced an entirely new set of reasons for increasing our taxes... instead of 'going down in flames' like the old disaster film 'Towering Inferno', Mobile was now on the precipice of becoming 'Fantasy Island'. But in order to transform our fair city into a 'world class city' (quoting Mayor Sam Jones) We would need to give the city of Mobile millions more in tax revenue so they could 'invest' it in development projects related to the Airbus 'incentives' and Brookley field complex infrastructure. The change in script was massive and bold. We were no longer beggars in need of a cash infusion to survive...we were now wise and savvy business investors  sure to get a return if we would just pay for everything and trust the administration to handle our increased tax burden wisely...never mind that empty cruise terminal, debt laden and often empty convention center, the old and worn Civic Center, the maritime museum,  the mismanagement at Ladd Pebbles and the city owned baseball stadium that doesn't pay rent for years..... just trust the city leaders.... or not.

  We were told by the Mayor and his minions that we would be needing to fork over millions of dollars now and for the foreseeable future to not miss this unique opportunity to better our city. We would see that increased tax revenue used as collateral to borrow even more money by issuing bonds. But don't worry it's a good investment... says the Mayor.

  The trouble is that multiple other cities have tried this formula and are now going into bankruptcy all over our nation (simply Google city bankruptcy and make a special note of California). Taking on more debt when we're struggling with an ongoing recession seems a very risky proposition to me. I agree that Airbus coming to Mobile is potentially a game changer in our local economy. I just question the suppositions put forth by the Mayor in his approach to leadership and management. For months we are told of dire consequences if not doom without an increasing revenue stream. Now we are told we are going to use our budget to create a new 'world class city' right here, right now. Excuse me if I doubt the wisdom of this proposition. Should not our priorities and focus be on the failing basic core services struggling so hard to be delivered: Police, Fire, Sanitation and a public pension system deeply in debt?

  The citizens of Mobile need to be aware of the Mobile budget situation in detail and communicate with intelligence with their council and Mayor. We already pay some of the highest sales tax in the nation. Could at least some of our problems relate to poor management and prioritization? Could it be that the current Mayor and his administration have lacked a consistent focus (other than asking for more money)? We are living in a challenging economy together. I don't know a single person or business entity that is not watching their budget very carefully and with great caution. As a concerned citizen I deeply believe that before we are asked to pay more in taxes we need to know that the priorities of our city leaders are honest, wise and prudent. There are more questions to be asked and answered before our city is granted a 10 percent sales tax.