Smith: Rebate?
Story by Chris Graham
freepress2@ntelos.net
It was so quick that the newspapers and TV missed it, but Waynesboro City Councilwoman Lorie Smith raised an interesting idea at last week’s City Council meeting as to what the city could decide to do with the $560,000 in found money coming from a year-end budget surplus.
“I’ve got questions around that. I don’t know if we can legally rebate some of that money to the taxpayers,” Smith said at the Jan. 25 City Council meeting, before asking City Manager Mike Hamp to explore the options available to the city to use the surplus money for a refund to taxpayers.
The focus to that point had been on using the money to fund unfinished city projects.
Smith also asked Hamp to explore the possible use of some of the monies to fund economic-development initiatives. The city has been without an economic-development director since August 2008, and development efforts have been on the backburner with the position left open.
“Those are all comprehensive discussion pieces that I’d like to see the Council undertake as we move forward so that we can work with a plan in mind,” Smith said.
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Nice to see some innovative thinking on City Council! Very interesting idea.
I also agree that finding a qualified candidate for the Economic Development position should be a top priority. Waynesboro falls farther and farther behind each day that job remains vacant. Other cities in the region understand that businesses don’t “magically” relocate to the area. It’s up to Waynesboro to actively seek out promising opportunities and provide attractive incentives for new businesses. Thriving corporations and innovative entrepreneurs aren’t exactly knocking down Waynesboro’s door. If we make a bit of an effort, we might actually see some results.