Editor, The Herald:

I would greatly appreciate your publishing of this open letter in a future edition. It was just sent by email to Ms. Vivian Giles and the Board of Supervisors.

Dear Ms. Giles and the Board of Supervisors of Cumberland County,

I am taking this opportunity to express the overwhelming concern of the majority of our residents in District Two concerning the development and approval of the upcoming 2013-14 budget. The residents of D2 have one common priority in this process; that we live within our means and not increase local taxes.

To this end I am making a public commitment that I will not vote in favor of a 2013-14 budget that includes any additional spending above that of the 2012-13 budget. In the absence of any new local sources of revenue, we are unable to increase spending without likewise increasing taxes.

We are already aware of additional local expenses in the coming year with the housing of prisoners at the Piedmont Regional Jail and annual increases in the cost of personnel benefits such as health care. There is ample time available for consideration of necessary spending reductions in other areas to offset these unavoidable increases. This is the only viable alternative to burdening citizens with higher taxes.

We have seen firsthand the consequences of spending more revenue than we take in. With nearly $50 million in debt, approximately half of every dollar we take in through real estate taxes goes to debt service. There was news this week of new banking regulations that would prevent individual buyers from purchasing a home with such a huge proportion of debt to income similar to that which we currently have within our local government.

A continuation of indiscriminate spending is simply not sustainable as we already have some of the highest local taxes in Central Virginia. Are there any unanswered questions concerning why our residents currently pay taxes of 68 cents per hundred on real estate when our next door neighbors in Buckingham pay less than 45 cents?

Our 2012-13 budget from local revenues totaled $11,846,500 and I will not vote in favor of a 2013-14 budget that includes any added spending. In the coming weeks I am hopeful that the Board will be offered a proposed budget that reflects our first basic need of living within our means. Our individual citizens are bound to this common principle in governing their households and our county government should be responsible in doing the same.

Going forward, any added spending would equate to higher taxes or the ill advised use of greatly needed reserves. There is no honest way around this plain and simple reality. With lower property values pending, the only true and clear test of our living within our means and not raising taxes is to not increase spending.

I am sharing my commitment to oppose any added spending before the first argument is made for why we should violate the top priority of our citizens. I want to be transparent very early in the process as there will be no future compromise on my part concerning this position.

Lloyd Banks

Cumberland District Two Supervisor