ARClogo Alliance of Rockville Citizens


                                                   April Report  2010
Contents:
1) Mayor and Council deny City Attorney support for Board of Appeals, then flip.
2) Subsidy removed from Enterprise funds, fees to increase
3) Budget Testimony: Declining City revenues, Illegality of Enterprise fund subsidies
4) Beall’s Grant II approval by Planning Commission, Giammo continues opposition
5) Award to and retirement of City Clerk, Claire Funkhouser

1) A group of citizens headed by Noreen Bryan filed a petition in Circuit Court on February 16 seeking Judicial review of the Board of Appeals decision in favor of Victory Court. This was a continuation of the struggle to prevent the construction of an 86 unit affordable housing retirement home on the property bounded by Maryland Avenue, Fleet St., and Monroe. The property is owned by Montgomery County which has entered in to an agreement with the Archdiocese of Washington to build a non-profit retirement community similar to other projects that they have been built in the area. The construction has been opposed by the residents of Courthouse Walk whose houses back on the proposed retirement home.
 At the April 12 meeting the Mayor and council decided that the city attorney would not be a party to the suit. Defense of the Rockville Board of Appeals action  was to be left to Victory Housing. Marcuccio, Newton and Gajewski voted to deny City Attorney support.  The chair of the Board of Appeals, Alan Sternstein said he was disappointed in the decision to remove the city attorney from the case and said “the decision had profound implications , legally and practically, for the relationship between the city and its volunteer boards and commissions”. Board member for seven years, Roy Deitman resigned saying that he felt that “the rug had been pulled out from under the board”.

 The County then announced that its Attorney would represent the interests of the city Board of Appeals. Since this didn’t look too good for the city, the Mayor and Council revisited their decision and voted to let the City Attorney defend the Board of Appeals. The vote was 4 to 1 with Newton opposing. It now appears that there will be four submissions to the court in defense of the Board of Appeals, The City, The County, Victory Housing, and Mr. Sternstein of the Board of Appeals. The oral arguments may occur sometime during the summer. Victory Housing is continuing its work on site plans in preparation for coming Historic District Commission and Planning Commission appearances.
2) At the request of Mayor and Council a study of administrative costs for the enterprise funds was carried out by the Matrix Consulting Group. Up to this time the real cost for supporting services supplied by the city to the enterprise funds had not been determined. Enterprise Funds like water, sewer, refuse, etc are supposed to be completely self supporting. On April 19 the Mayor and Council considered the report and its implications for raising fees for the enterprise funds. After discussion a plan was devised that would gradually impose increases in fees.  The utility fee increases would raise some fees 10% to 20% when fully implemented. The plan was adopted by a 3 to 2 vote with Marcuccio and Newton in opposition. A side effect of the action was the possibility that money could be saved that would allow a homeowner’s credit, perhaps not the $100 per household as in previous years but something.

3) At the April 26 Public Hearing on the budget I presented testimony representing myself only as no other ARC members had participated in preparing the testimony. It follows:

Good Evening. My Name is Roald Schrack and I reside at 13 Farsta Ct., Rockville, MD. This is the worst financial situation I have seen in the last 50 years and I fear that things will get worse. In Rockville, foreclosures show no sign of declining and home prices show no sign of increasing. This past year the State and County received massive support from the Federal stimulus bill. In spite of this support transfers to Rockville were cut seriously.

 Next year, without support from stimulus funds, the situation promises to be much worse. The five year forecasts in previous budgets showed continuously declining estimates for FY 2011 General Fund Revenues, going from $67.6 M to $64.1 M and now $61.2 M.. In view of this constant decline one cannot place too much confidence on the current estimate actually holding up for the coming fiscal year. Look what happened last year. The revenues dropped from an estimated $64.1 M at budget adoption to an actual $59.7 M.

     I think we get good value for our tax dollar in Rockville. However I would like to raise a point about the subsidy we taxpayers provide for services supplied to other people. The city has established enterprise funds for those activities that should be self supporting, fully paid for by the people that use them.  First on the list are the parking garages. Despite evidence that the fees do not inhibit use, the Mayor and Council succumbed to pressure and lowered costs to garage users. I personally use the garages at least once a week and am fully prepared to pay my fair share of the cost without a subsidy supplied by other taxpayers.
    The same argument can be made for other enterprise funds where the administrative costs they should carry are now subsidized by other taxpayers through the General Fund. The current subsidy of city service charges like water, sewer, and refuse, by the general fund is not only unjust, it is illegal. The IRS does not allow the deduction of service charges in your local tax deduction.       

4) On April 28 the Planning Commission met and considered the amended site plan for Beall’s Grant II. The plan had been modified after many discussions with members of the West End Citizen’s Association. The building was reduced in size and height with greater setbacks. Local citizen testimony was favorable with Jim Vitol of the West End supporting approval. However former Mayor Giammo continued his opposition.  He complained that the city had violated the Adequate Public Facility Ordinance (APFO) as school capacity had not been properly considered. The Planning Commission discussed the problem of overcrowding at Beall elementary at some length. They voted 6 to 1 to approve the site plane and decided to return in the near future to the problems imposed by the APFO.  Beall’s Grant II still must go before the Historic District Commission to obtain permission to tear down 13 Beall which has not been occupied now for a couple of years.  After that they must win the court case that Larry Giammo has claiming that the city has violated the APFO by approving Beall’s Grant II. That case will be heard on June 4.

5) The virtues of our City Clerk, Claire Funkhouser have been recognized by the Maryland Municipal League. She will be given an award at the annual MML convention at Ocean City in June. Unfortunately, Claire has planned to retire so we will soon lose her services. Recruitment of a replacement is underway.  ☐         

              
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Recent ARC actions:


    •  To see an analysis of the 2009  Budget, click HERE

    •  To see an analysis of the 2009 Election Finances, click HERE

    •  To see an analysis of the 2009  Election, click HERE


      • The Alliance of Rockville Citizens (ARC) is a non-partisan civic organization open to all citizens of Rockville. Its main focus is on Rockville and does not deal with County, State, or National questions unless there is a direct effect on the City. ARC was formed to provide citizens like yourself a more effective voice in city government. There are 49 local civic and homeowner associations that deal with concerns affecting particular neighborhoods in the city. ARC deals with city-wide concerns.
      • Rockville, unlike most of the communities in Montgomery County, is an independent incorporated municipality. Rockville government provides the services that most affect your home and your neighborhood. The city controls the use of land and zoning within it's boundaries. How this power is used depends on you.
      • The services Rockville provides are funded by a budget of $74 million dollars (FY 2005). How this money is spent depends on you.
      • ARC was organized to assure that you as a citizen of Rockville, have the opportunity to influence the way the city is run.
      • ARC promotes efficient and responsive government by taking positions on issues of importance to Rockville and it's citizens.
        •

      To accomplish these goals, ARC .....

      • Monitors Council and Commission meetings,
      • Informs its members of City issues through newsletters and forums,
      • Forms committees of concerned citizens to develop testimony on major legislation,
      • Meets monthly to maintain a current overview of city activities,
      • Holds a convention in election years to seek out and endorse capable citizens for elected office.
        •

      Rockville Election Law provides for non-partisan elections in the City. This was done to:

      1. Keep the pressures of partisan politics from distorting City affairs.
      2. Allow for the full participation of federal government employees, which make up a large fraction of the city population.
        3.

      To maintain its independent status ARC does not collect or disburse funds in Rockville elections. A separate campaign committee is formed by candidates for office to collect and disburse funds.

      ARC and other non-partisan organizations have played a vital role in keeping Rockville government responsive and representative for forty years. The continuation of this record depends on maintaining and strengthening our non-partisan tradition. Your participation is cordially invited. If you would like further information write to us:

      ARC    P.O. Box 4545 Rockville, MD 20849-4545  

      or contact Stan Klein at