Last Wednesday evening, the CCA board unanimously approved the FY 2015 CSCBD budget. Crofton has approximately 10,000 homes and 30,000 residents. Each homeowner pays an estimated $300 per year to live in the Crofton Special Community Benefit District, per the FY 2015 budget. The cost is $25 per month to support the administration of Crofton.
However, it adds up as a community.
The assessable base for real estate in Crofton, which generates tax revenues, cracked $1 billion for FY 2015. The tax generated funds are estimated at slightly under $900,000 for FY 2015. That a lot of $25's. For FY 2015, the budget balances at roughly $1.5 million for revenue and expenditures, all from the many collections of $300's.
Only the CCA board, three town hall employees and myself were present last Wednesday night. Why did no Crofton residents come to the board meeting? Perhaps, everybody was too busy?
Two perspectives exist for the zero attendance of Crofton residents at the final approval meeting for the FY 2015 budget. The first is when making small contributions, it is easy to shrug off the expense. Given the present turbulent economic times, however, the truth is that an annual $300 expense is probably notable for most Crofton families.
When Crofton residents are absent from budget approval meetings, they put blind trust in a dozen people. The CCA Board has nine members. They work with the town manager, assistant town manager and part-time receptionist. Together they are responsible for about a billion dollars in assessments, almost $900,000 in collected tax revenues and annual budget of $1.4 million. So the next time a CCA board position needs to be filled or a community meeting is announced, Crofton residents should remember what is at stake and get involved.
