I’m on vacation this week and doing day trips with my family so I missed the City Council meeting last night. Did I miss a lively show or is the Sun article blown out of proportion to make the Manager and Councilors who support him look bad?
Here’s what I do know….
According to today’s Sun, apparently along with again raising fees on a number of City Businesses the citizens of the city who watched the meeting got a side-show involving a disgruntled city worker and a pair of councilors who were against the increase but gaveled down by the Mayor. I can’t wait to watch the replay (not up yet) and see it for myself.
First I have to agree with Councilors Elliot and Caulfield in voting NO to raising these fees.
The City keeps saying Economic Development is important and that Lowell is business friendly. It seems to me Lowell is always taxing businesses here in the city. Businesses pay a higher Property Tax, pay for their own garbage pick-up (and now pays for trash pick up if they want a barrel in front of their store to keep OUR neighborhoods clean) and permits and other fees were raised in the past year.
Now in the middle of a he said/the City issue regarding inspections conducted by the sealer of weights and measures the Council tacks on Extra fees for Inspections because we are now paying others to do it and want to bring in more funds. Sorry but there is NO reason to raise fees for these Inspections, especially considering that the city is trying to promote itself has being business friendly and the city didn’t lose has much local aid has first thought.
Shame on Bill Martin for making this statement “These are relatively minor increases for the most part,”
All these “minor” increases the city continues to make adds cost to businesses that are struggling in this economy. I work in a private small business and have seen first hand that these small added fees add up and take a toll on a small company.
The side show appears to be a combination of the Mayor trying to keep the meeting and speakers on point and a couple of people / Councilors feeling that he was trying to ram the approval through.
According to the Sun “Councilors Edward “Bud” Caulfield and Rodney Elliott voted in opposition, but were both gaveled down by Milinazzo while questioning Lynch about the decision to outsource the sealer’s functions after reducing Hynes from a full-time employee to an 8-hour-a-week employee in December.”
“Kenneth Harkins, of Bigelow Street, rose to speak in opposition to the fee hikes and started to say he was against outsourcing when Milinazzo gaveled him down.”
“Milinazzo said after the meeting he believed the councilors, Harkins and Hynes were speaking off topic”
So if you saw the meeting, what did you think? Is the Sun over-playing the angle? Were the speakers off topic or was the Mayor quick with the Gavel? Do you agree that raising the fees is incorrect?
Two words: Consumer Protection.
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From The Sun:
Seven of Lowell’s fees will be increased, one decreased, and six will remain the same under the adjustments. The inspection fee for each individual gas pump will go from $20 to $30, the fee for scales 10 pounds or less will increase from $15 to $35, and the fee for scales between 1,000 to 5,000 pounds will rise from $75 to $100.
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The concern that the added burden to the business will be passed to the concumer is real, but overwrought. If a gas station has 10 pumps, the fee will go up by $100. How many customers go to that station a day, a week a year? The cost all but disappears.
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However, if a business, by accident or intentionally, is over measuring its goods, the customers are harmed. If a business, likely by accident, is under measuring its goods, the business losses money.
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As both the business and its customers are ALL customers of the Sealer, they are both duly protected. If the fee hike is offset by the savings assured by true measure, then there is nothing to worry about.
Perhaps Hynes should not have been there last night – but the others appeared to be simply trying to speak on the issue and not on the person. I am shocked at Milinazzo lately – it seems like if he thinks someone is going to say something he doesn’t agree with – he gavels them down. My husband thinks he is arrogant. Bud is on his way out – show him some common courtesy. In the end this will cost Lowell much more in lost businesses that are barely making it now. I do not think that we are going in the right direction to bring in more business at all.
There may have been a mix of items that led to the “stiffling” of discussion.
It was a public hearing on the request for a fee change. When the public and councilors diverted from the subject of the fees to bring up the decision to outsource the function, the Mayor had some justification to rule those discussions out of order. However, the Manager may have opened that door by including a write-up in the packet to justify his decision to make the switch to NMCOG. However, just because it was in the packet doesn’t necessarily justify bringing the subject into the public hearing on fee changes. And to use the rationale that one’s opposition to the fee schedule was based on a disagreement on whether the sealer position should be outsourced in the first place oversteps the bounds of a councilor’s job.
As to the fee changes themselves, it appears they were made to be consistent with the charges for the same services in other communities where the tasks are performed by NMCOG. And the total increase is small, so in the aggregate it is not a big issue. However, the point that it is one more increase in costs to businesses that are already struggling is valid. Therefore, the City should look for ways to reduce those burdens, and reducing the business tax rate from what is now the maximum allowed under State law would be a good place to start.
Another way of looking at this thing is whether gas is cheaper now in Lowell than the neighboring communities. Are cold cuts or fruits and vegetables cheaper now in Lowell as opposed to the neighboring communities. I think not. So, the $100 more really doesn’t impact. And if a gas station is going to go out of business over another $100 then I think they have some bigger issues. As for Bud maybe he should go out with a bit more class. Good for the mayor for keeping the BS to a minumum.
Something that the average person does not realize about any meeting of a public body is that there is a new (~ 1 yr old) Open Meeting Law that is much stricter than the old version. The new law strictly prohibits discussion of ANY issue not on the agenda. The W&M measure that *was* on the agenda was strictly regarding the fee structure for W&M inspections, NOT the status of the former sealer. That’s why the mayor (and the City Solicitor) were prohibiting certain discussions. It had nothing to do with agreeing or disagreeing with the speaker. This new law is now enforced by the Mass. Attorney General (formerly county District Attorneys).
A second reason for prohibiting discussion was that it was entering personnel issues territory. Even though the former sealer, Mr Hynes, was in attendance, discussion of his employment status could have violated two principles: not giving sufficient notice (48 hours) and having the discussion in public, both of which violate Mr Hynes employee rights.
Its a cumulative effect. A “small” fee increase here. Another “small” one there. A new permit requirement to “ensure safety”. A property tax increase. It all adds up after a while. As Elizabeth says, it’s the wrong direction if we want to make Lowell a more business friendly city. In the end, those of us with homes will be stuck footing the bill.
Jack.. you don’t seem to get the point.
The increase of $100 a year that you assume, must be made up somewhere.
A gas station gets a steady, stable number of customers.
A gas station actually makes very little in profit on the gas. Pennies to the gallon. That means the owner must eat that additional cost. If he raises his prices, he will lose those customers to the guy down the street (gas is a commodity). If he lowers it, then he has even less of a chance of making up for the government fee increase.
In a recession such as this, when everyone is just barely getting by, leave the businesses alone.
I agree that this was a bad move. But hey, they’re a corporation so they must be evil and should be punished.
I would ask moreso, why the focus on this issue by the city government when they have major issues that drive people away from the city.
Parking has become impossible, and expensive. Nobody likes to go into a garage (I go to the registry in Andover rather than lowell over this), and the roads are like driving through a third world country. That roller coaster on central street is such a mess to drive over that I know of many people who avoid going through Lowell and will go all the way around the downtown to avoid it.
I get the point, I just don’t buy it. Accurate measure pays for itself.
And please stop with the poor mouth, I see plenty of discretionary spending going on. It doesn’t fit your meme, but that isn’t really my water to carry, now is it.
I have been to several third world countries. We are nowhere near those conditions.
You may have been to third world countries, but have you ever run a business, especially a small one? Unless you have you might want to hold your “fire” until you actually get an understanding of how hard it is and how every penny counts these days, never mind the hundred dollar bills that you so casually dismiss. I’m sure with your blue collar background you realize how important Ben Franklin is in your personal budget. Don’t be so quick to discard someone else’s.
My wife is a small business owner. Can I have an opinion now?
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Your burden and my burden of the aforementioned $100 is fractions of fractions of a penny. Yes, as we consumers move about, we accumulate an aggregate cost. Or, as you say, a little here, a little there. But that is not the topic. The point is the specific fee increases, paying for a consumer protection service.
You’ve always had an opinion. Now you have an educated one. LOL
What type of business does your wife own, if I might ask. I’m curious her thoughts on the business environment in Lowell, if that’s where her biz is located.
My wife has operated her home cleaning business for 20 years. Mostly in one Reading neighborhood, as word of mouth is the best advertising. Her customers are upper middle class, living in million dollar homes. She has lost a client or three over the years, but they are quickly replaced. Most of them are two professional income families. They earn enough to burn on a convenience. That is good for us. :v)
If accurate measure pays for itself, why not let Bernie set the rates to $300 a year instead of $30?
And I don’t have any idea what you said in the second sentence. “poor mouth?” “discretionary spending?” and I don’t have any idea what the term “meme” means, nor where I asked you to carry any water.
And you can ignore the issue of parking, bad roads, missing signs, etc.. but I do know that it keeps people out of the downtown.
What keeps me out of downtown is the parking and the cobblestones. Try doing those on an very bad ankle. That , and there is absolutely nothing of interest to me down there.
Shawn,
I notice in your posts your quick to see places to spend money but seem unwilling to see any place to grow revenue. I return to my point that the businesses don’t seem to charge any less in Lowell despite lower fees through the years. I hardly think that these miniscule increases that match the surrounding Towns are going to tip the scale (bad pun).