Okay, so there's tough times financially nearly everywhere, and almost everyone knows someone who has been affected.
What really affects Christiansburg residents is how the elected Town Council manages finances. There's a Finance Committee that any citizen should be able to contact at any time to get about any detail on the town's revenues (taxes and fees) and expenses. And council reviews every single bill and expense that is to be paid every single month, so they should know a good bit about the town's books, too.
The town's budget is online so anyone with a computer should be able to review where their tax dollars are going. How many full time employees (FTE), how much is spent on promoting the town as a destination for visitors or attracting new business, supporting existing businesses and providing mundane and special services to residents.
Think again.
The budget doesn't show how much is spent on gasoline, much less marketing. The monthly bills do not show what budget is being charged for the payment being made, much less why the expense was incurred. Until last year, the budget process was hidden from the public and only became known when it was a done deal, with all of two work sessions for the Town Council to discuss the details being forced upon them.
Make note: A Finance Committee meeting has been scheduled for Tuesday, March 24th at 9 am in the Administrative Conference Room on the second floor of Town Hall. No agenda has been provided, so this may be relative to the hiring of a Treasurer/Finance Director or discussing the 2009-2010, or current, fiscal year budget. Numerous other governments have indicated last year's revenue projections are down sharply, creating big shortfalls. How's this trending for Christiansburg? There may well be only one individual who has any idea.
Members of the public will have to attend this meeting to find out what's on the agenda or discussed, as minutes for these and other committees are not often available via the town website. There's no video or audio recordings for viewing when convenient to your schedule at a later time (unless one resident attends who does this when possible). Or maybe a member of the mainstream media will be present -- or bloggers -- will provide information. When it comes to things as basic as what, how much, and why -- taxpayers need to perk up and pay attention before the tax bills arrive.