Finally A Health Insurance Understanding In The City?

1.elected officials shall be permitted to participate in elective employee
benefits programs offered by the City to its employees provided that they
must pay for the full cost of their participation and the participation of
any family members
2 elected officials who are currently participating in elective employee
benefits programs will be allowed to continue to participate under the
same terms and conditions presently in place until the end of their current
terms


This was voted on last night at the City Council meeting with a 2-0 vote, wanna guess who abstained and bolted from the room during the vote??? come on I know you can do it..yes! Debbie Campbell and Terry Cohen. So proud of you. I have no problem with this as long as they pay .

Question for Salisbury City Council Candidates

Do you believe those who own property or businesses in the City, but live in the County; should be able to vote in City elections? If they pay city taxes, but are not allowed to vote; is that not taxation without representation?

Mayor, City Council Work Together for A Business Friendly Salisbury
At its meeting on Monday, February 14, 2011, the Salisbury City Council agreed to a policy proposed by Mayor Ireton to allow for the payment of water and sewer capacity fees over periods of up to two years. The new policy is a change from the current policy that requires the payment of capacity fees in a lump sum at the time that the water meter is set. The purpose of the policy is to help make business creation in Salisbury easier by allowing the payment of these fees to be spread out over a longer period of time.


The capacity fee is charged for each new connection to the City’s system and to existing customers who increase their water and/or sewer usage. The purpose of the Capacity Fee is to pay for growth and expansion projects as outlined in the City’s ten-year water and sewer Capital Improvement Plan. It is used to finance planned future improvements such as treatment plant expansions and new water storage tanks. It is also used to reimburse the City for costs of “recent improvements” as defined by the City and includes debt service on prior growth-related improvements that have not yet been retired in the water and sewer rate structure.


Developers who propose a new project that will use more than two Equivalent Dwelling Units (EDU’s) as well as existing property owners who plan to increase their usage by more than two EDU’s will qualify for the payment plan. One EDU is defined as 250 gallons per day of water usage.


The payment plan enables property owners to pay up to 80 percent of the Capacity Fee over a one- to two-year period immediately following receipt of a 20 percent or two-EDU minimum down payment. The new policy was prompted by a request from Evolution Craft Brewery to pay the capacity fee for a proposed new brew pub over time. The City anticipates that Evolutio Craft Brewery will be the first customer to take advantage of this payment plan. The brewery is being proposed for the former Messick’s Ice Plant on Vine Street.


Councilwoman Shanie Shields said, “I will support this ordinance. We are going in the right direction.” Mayor Ireton agreed, saying "Last evening's City Council meeting was one our residents can be proud of. We made Salisbury more business friendly, cleaning up many issues involving bond bills from this year and previous years. We had friendly amendments and a cordial atmosphere. We can be proud of our work."

Here come the Tax Increases

Here's a look at some of the tax increases proposed by Obama.

· Raising the top marginal income tax rate (at which a majority of small business profits face taxation) from 35% to 39.6%. This is a $709 billion/10 year tax hike

· Raising the capital gains and dividends rate from 15% to 20%

· Raising the death tax rate from 35% to 45% and lowering the death tax exemption amount from $5 million ($10 million for couples) to $3.5 million. This is a $98 billion/ten year tax hike

· Capping the value of itemized deductions at the 28% bracket rate. This will effectively cut tax deductions for mortgage interest, charitable contributions, property taxes, state and local income or sales taxes, out-of-pocket medical expenses, and unreimbursed employee business expenses. A new means-tested phaseout of itemized deductions limits them even more. This is a $321 billion/ten year tax hike

· New bank taxes totaling $33 billion over ten years

· New international corporate tax hikes totaling $129 billion over ten years

· New life insurance company taxes totaling $14 billion over ten years

· Massive new taxes on energy, including LIFO repeal, Superfund, domestic energy manufacturing, and many others totaling $120 billion over ten years

· Increasing unemployment payroll taxes by $15 billion over ten years

· Taxing management capital gains in an investment partnership ("carried interest") as ordinary income. This is a tax hike of $15 billion over ten years

· A giveaway to the trial lawyers--not letting companies deduct the cost of punitive damages from a lawsuit settlement. This is a tax hike of $300 million over ten years

· Increasing tax penalties, information reporting, and IRS information sharing. This is a ten-year tax hike of $20 billion.

Is this the type of change you want to believe in?

City Council Candidates Forums and Dates

With the Primary For The Salisbury City Council Seats Approaching the 1st of March the forums and times to meet the Candidates are here. This Friday at Noon at the Chamber of Commerce, four Candidates will be on hand to answer questions.

Then next week we have the NAACP forum and the AFP forum. AFP Wednesday night at 7 At Brew River and the following night the  NAACP AT 6:30 at St. James AME Zion Church

Beau Oglesby Case This Week

Our favorite little hero from Worcester County will be in Court this week not trying a case but defending himself against the charges above. Beau has flip flopped on this money owed several times in the past so it will be interesting what he does Friday. He first accused Thom Gulyas of doing it for political reasons and said he didn't owe him any money, then tried to pay it back with campaign money and was told by the election board he couldn't do so. I think Beau is going to need a big hug friday :)

Kristy Hickman What's The Deal?

                                               yes Kristy Hickman is back to the top.

Something wicked this way came in Somerset County the weekend before Dan Powell was sworn in. True Vindictiveness and spite. Was Kristy Hickman involved in any way? It seems when it comes to giving answers to the public about any issues like this, the Somerset Commissioners are asleep at the wheel or simply don't care to provide the people who voted them into office any answers.

Let us look Malfeasance in office here 

For any person to walk into an office, jack the heat up and delete files off the computer that caused a delay in the start of business the following work day I believe falls under that definition. If Kristy Hickman did nothing wrong and wasn't involved as had been alleged by numerous sources than I call on the Somerset County Commissioners to answer this one way or the other. I have contacted all of them and will keep you informed on any answers or lack thereof that I receive. 


It's a simple thing to sit back and not care but it's another to not seek answers for the public. I have nothing to gain from these answers, but my readers want answers and I pursue all avenues for such. I will add that whoever did this in that office, they need to grow up because while it didn't technically hurt anyone it was of a childish nature. This behavior may be fine for people who aren't elected by the people, but those that are know they must live to a higher standard and set examples.

Time To Revisit Some Issues

One thing I notice about stories is unless you keep them to the top they are forgot along with the rest when they move down the page. This week we bring back posts with new questions on topics who have not been fully answered yet.