The Capital Improvement Plan (CIP) is the topic of discussion on the January 12 edition of OPEN AGENDA (S3 E3). Updated annually, the CIP is the “blueprint” for capital expenditures over the forthcoming 5-year period. However, the process by which the Administration develops the CIP is deeply flawed, thus producing an unreliable financial planning document of limited practical value. The Council must take the Administration's cost estimates shown in the CIP largely on faith because insufficient supporting documentation is provided to verify the projected costs. Documentation is sometimes even intentionally withheld by the Administration in violation of the Charter. Additionally, the Administration has failed over the past three years to submit the annual budget audit by the established deadline. Consequently, the accuracy of financial projections is impaired without verified performance data from the prior year being available during the planning process. Certain line items in the CIP are clearly over-estimated or are simply lumped into the “Miscellaneous” category, which enables the Executive to reallocate funds to “pet projects” at her discretion without public scrutiny. Astonishingly, the Administration completely omitted the critical public safety needs identified in last year's SWOT Analysis, thus leaving our security at risk. Shouldn't public safety be the very highest priority? To a large extent, sources of funding are unidentified, ambiguous or uncommitted, making it uncertain how projects will actually be paid for. How do you make any financial plan when you don't know where the money will come from? Let's face it--no private sector business could survive with the poor financial planning practices and lack of oversight by which the county operates. When our elected and appointed officials fail to adequately plan for our financial future, their default solution is always to raise taxes. This is OUR money, so why do we tolerate the inefficiency, incompetence and even deception embodied in the CIP? We must do better if Wicomico County is ever to thrive again. Tune in and be informed.
