Probably the most frustrating task in any election cycle for the media is collecting information about the candidates to ensure that the public is fully informed about where each candidate stands prior to election day. This is a public service (one of many) that the media provides to the community.
Early on in 2009 we (TippNews) asked Bryan Budding where he stood on the issues and his reply was always, “I am not sure, I am not a politician, I just want what is best for Tipp City”. As the months passed, not much more was heard from the owner of two canoe liveries in Tipp City and West Milton. No political signs, no public statements, no advertisements of his candidacy. Later in the year, I was asked by the Chamber of Commerce to host the Candidate Forum as I had many times before. I of course did so and again grilled each candidate on their stance on issues like taxes and the sign code. After listening to the responses of the other candidates, Budding returned, “I may not vote what is best for the City, I may vote what is best for me”. Surprised and a bit alarmed at the time by Budding’s statement, the truth about Bryan Budding may be finally coming out.
The Cat is out of the Bag
In last night’s City Council meeting, councilman Budding put forth some radical thoughts for Council to ponder. “I think these programs are great and all, but I don’t believe that we should be taking someone else’s dollar to pay for them.” Budding went on to present motions to strike all funding from the Downtown Tipp City Partnership, Tipp Monroe Community Services, Meals on Wheels, the Christmas lighting program, and the 4th of July fireworks. “These programs should not be paid for by us, or mandated by us” continued Budding, “someone else will come along and pay for these things”.
Critical Services Only
In a gesture to simply encourage public discussion, Councilman Gibson provided a second to one of Budding’s motions, allowing him to further elaborate on the subject. In one exchange, Budding shared “I believe that the tax money that the City takes in should only go to pay for Fire, EMS, Police, and Streets”, and then asked the City Manager if he left out anything that he stood for, Crusey replied “I think you said you also stand for the Public Utilities”, to which Budding affirmed.
Estate Tax
Later in the meeting, Budding asked if he could eliminate the estate tax receipts from the Budget, a source of revenue for the City (about $100,000/year). City Manager Jon Crusey stated that because the estate tax is mandated by Federal and State Law, Tipp City cannot change the amount or the taxing of estates. To which Budding replied, “Can we just take the money then and give it back to the estate after the Federal and State governments get their share?” City law director Joe Moore stated that because the estate finances would have already been settled in a court of law, there would be no way to get monies back to the members of the estate. This line of questioning fueled by Budding’s interest to not tax money that may have already been taxed during the life of the decedent. Councilman Lovett clarified several points of Ohio’s estate tax law with Budding, sharing that only estates that close with more than $338,000 in unprotected assets are taxed and then taxed on a sliding scale beginning at about 3%. Lovett added that financial instruments like life insurance are totally protected from the estate tax.
Many of the declarations made by councilman Budding herald keynote issues of the Tea Party, a fringe conservative group that focuses on smaller and more accountable government. However it does not appear that the City is ready to embrace such radical ideas as councilman Gibson seconded only one of Budding’s motions, the other 4 motions to strike community programs from the City budget went without a second and expired for lack of support.
