Vote!

Culpeper Star Exponent
Business Monday
May 5, 2014

Jim Charapich

Remember to vote tomorrow, May 6th. The issues that we face this election have been well defined. The Town has had significant increases in the budget over the past few years. Some of the increase was to catch up and secure the financial strength of our Town.  However, there is a point when the need for revenue should be balanced with the need to support the revenue producers. The linkage with good tax policy for business means capacity for lower real estate taxes for hardworking families, fixed income elderly, and commuters. The current direction of the 2015 budget appears to be a continuation of growth in spending. The rate of spending appears to have been reduced, and yet there is a proposed increase.

It appears most candidates agree that the BPOL tax is an unfair tax.  There is debate about how to resolve this issue, though little has been done in the past couple of years to address the unfair tax.  The current direction of the Council and candidates appears to be making progress. Given the windfall of revenues derived from the Boundary Line Adjustment area on the north end of town, there appears to be an ample and fair reserve to reduce the BPOL in 2015 by 20%. At some point in the near future, the tax should be eliminated. Whether this is done at the Town level or at the State level is irrelevant. Business does not deserve to be caught in the middle of the unresolved issue any longer. It is time for government to bear the burden of lost revenues from the unfair tax until it is resolved.

The issue of lack of support for the Culpeper Regional Health System is simply a disappointment in the leadership of this Town Council. The Health System President made the case for support of a privately run option of Medicaid expansion called Marketplace Virginia. The Councilmen in the committee meetings agreed that this was important.  This changed and subsequently became no support from the Council.

The issue had become a political stalemate in Richmond and the Council preferred to remain non-partisan. Unfortunately, the council deferred to the politics of the issue, leaving our local Health System to absorb a $2 Million negative impact to their budget resulting in reduced staffing. The Culpeper Regional Health System is our largest employer. Businesses that do business with the Health System describe significant reductions in spending from the Health System. The collateral effect of the reduced budget impacts our local economy in meaningful and visible ways beyond the immediate hospital operations.

The Town Council may not have made a dent in the politics of the issue in Richmond with a letter of support for the Health System. However, this is clearly an economic issue for our community. In contrast, our Town Council has enjoyed significant budget growth over the past few years. The Town has also had employment growth over the past few years. It is unfortunate that the Town Council leadership would be so loud in their silence on the issue. State politics first or Culpeper first?

Tomorrow is Election Day. Turnout in the Town is historically less than 10% of the population. Your vote can make a difference. Take time to vote for candidates that support good fiscal policy, ready to lead Culpeper.