I have lived in Malabar since 2011. My brain is wired for numbers. Everything that involves math draws me in, including "Creative Math" some people try to get away with. I am straight forward and what doesn't come out of my mouth is written on my face. My time spent in development has dissolved me of any desire to get involved in anything politic. I could only sit in so many meetings where a politician, Council member, or Staff asked for a donation to their "Private Charity". This summer, I was asked to look into how our Town is being managed and if I found anything off. I started digging around and in 3 weeks of searching just Meeting Minutes and Budgets, I found it is startling and that I have lots of Concerns.
In August, I brought some of my concerns to Town Council for clarification. Councilwoman Hoffmeister and Councilman Heiler both took the time to reach out to address my concerns and to answer and ask follow up questions. However, they are just 2 amongst a the group. The first time I spoke was at the August 3 meeting. I asked that Council to allow the Residents to have a ballot vote on the New Town Hall that Council wants to build. This was based on the precedence set in past elections where we have voted on Capital Improvements. Instead of hearing my concern, Councilman Abare told me "how things work"(the recoding is attached below). Apparently, we vote for the Council and then they make the decisions. Period. That is how it works according to him. No more opinions for us, just the Council's vote. Which is only further amusing since Mr. Abare wasn't voted in by the Residents, but appointed by Council when the previous member resigned. So, Residents, I am asking you.....
DO YOU LIKE HOW THEY HAVE BEEN VOTING?
I don't. I tried the Civil Conversation method. Council will not even deign to answer any questions I put forth. So, now it is time for my Scorched Earth approach. I am putting it out there and will let the Residents make the decision. If you are Concerned with findings, please speak out through calls, emails, and at Council meetings. If you aren't concerned, that works for me too. I can stop my lone charge to find our $3.2M and get our taxes brought back down and will acquiesce to YOUR decision, not Council's.
Some concerns I have addressed here:
Council and Staff raised our taxes by 81% in September 2022 for resurfacing roads. This was 2 months before a vote on the November ballot asking Residents if we wanted to raise our taxes to pay for Capital Improvements. BTW we voted 74.5% NO.
Council and Staff took out a $3.5M loan in 2023 that costs $1.56M in interest. We still have $700k of proceeds we have not used. They have not used the 2022-2025 81% tax increases either except to pay the loan. From 2022-2025, they have collected $3,156,512. It will be $918247 this 2026 tax year. Why do we have a loan that costs $1.56M?
Council and Staff increased staff salaries by 50-285% in 4 years. Yes, you are reading that right. The Fire Chief went from $57,886 in 2022/2023 to $165,289 this 2026/2027. He also got a new $70k+ truck this year.
The Fire Department has gone from a $600-650k budget to $1,071,752 for 2026/2027. This does not include equipment or big purchases, just basic salary and maintenance. Salary cost went up 17% for 2026/2027 vs 2025/2026 Budgeted amount with no new hires.
Council and Staff have increased Employee Benefits from 32-36% in 2022 to 76-82% for 2025/2026. Spoiler alert... the national average is 36-40% for non civilian sector. Towns around here are 33-43% for 2025/2026.
The Town Manager. Anyone who increases some of Staff's salaries beyond reasonable justification while getting rid of other employees who question her work, hires unqualified Staff and then replaces them with Contract Workers when they don't work out, and then essentially gets rid of any financial oversight, reads as "What is Really Going" on to me? So much so that I will be putting in a Public Request for all the financial and will reserve the right to bring a Forensic Accountant in at my expense. I
I know there are a lot of numbers and graphs on this site and I am sorry. This is how I sort data. I am actually okay at translating this data in a conversation, so I am happy to answer any questions you have or if you just want some clarification. Everything that I write, though sarcastic and snarky from time to time, has back up documentation you can sort through. If you find any problems, errors, or omissions, I openly admit that I am human and make mistakes, so please let me know. You can email me at MalabarsMoneyConcerns@yahoo.com
Your Neighbor,
Katie Ross