Faust: Predictions for the city of Dover’s future

Some may wonder why I am so hard with my opinion. It is because the city officials never give you a straight answer.”

William G. Faust Jr. is a resident of Dover.

After hours reading my tea leaves and consulting my Magic 8 Ball, I can foresee Dover’s future. It is very easy because the mayor and City Council are so predictable.

Let’s look forward to next year’s city budget. These are my predictions:

1. Due to situations beyond the control of our leaders and because of reductions in federal and state funding, our taxes will need to be increased. My Magic 8 Ball and tea leaves show a double-digit increase in our city taxes. My prediction is a 15%-20% increase.
2. This alone will not make the city coffers solvent. Dover officials will then add a fee, increase our current fees or increase the cost of one of our utilities.
3. Then, we will get a heartfelt speech from Council President Fred Neil that we are better off than other surrounding cities are.
4. The mayor and council will go on official record and say they trimmed the budget to the bone. However, they will not tell you in detail what was cut from the budget.
5. The mayor and council will once again not tell the citizens what revenue increases or decreases the city is currently experiencing.
6. They will say they are proud that they submitted and approved a balanced budget. This will be hollow because they wouldn’t have submitted a balanced budget. They would have submitted a budget with all the items on their wish lists. The budget will be balanced, once again by passing the bill onto the citizens of Dover.

Let’s not forget the steady advancements of the downtown improvement project, which they will be so proud of. I predict that the homelessness issue, the prostitution issue, the drug issue and other crimes will not improve at all. However, this will not be a deterrent, and they will expect families and businesses to move into the downtown area.

Some may wonder why I am so hard with my opinion. It is because the city officials never give you a straight answer. These are the two questions I asked Mr. Dave Hugg at one of our most recent council meetings: I asked Mr. Hugg if the city could afford the suggested/requested step raises for city employees and the security upgrades at City Hall on the city’s current revenue without raising taxes. These two questions should be easy to answer if you have your attention on the city’s current revenue situation. These two questions were not answered by Mr. Hugg, the mayor or anyone on City Council.

Lastly, I feel that most of my predictions will come true because the city is not being honest with its citizens. They will come out being shocked by next year’s budget, and they will say it needs to be done.

If I was an oddsmaker in Las Vegas, I wonder what my predictions’ odds would be.

Strap in, citizens of Dover. I foresee a very bleak future with the mayor and council.

Reader reactions, pro or con, are welcomed at civiltalk@iniusa.org.