A REPUBLICAN CONTRACT WITH POWHATAN

Where as: Powhatan County is among the fastest growing counties in Virginia. County government in Powhatan must respond to this growth in a business-like manner to avoid adverse consequences that can and should be averted.

Where as: The County government has failed to address the problems that often accompany rapid growth. It has allowed most of the new residential development during the last few years to occur beyond the urban growth boundary established by the County’s Comprehensive Plan and the Metropolitan Planning Organization. It has approved a Capital Improvement Program without the review required by state law to assure that its components are consistent with the County’s Comprehensive Plan. It has negligently polluted streams and otherwise failed to protect the County’s environment. It has failed to develop an affordable and realistic Thoroughfare Plan. It has increased taxation by at least 48% for the average citizen of Powhatan over the last four years.

There for: The Powhatan County Republicans in Mass Meeting propose a dramatically different course for the County so that it can once again function in a responsible, cost-effective and business-like manner:

1. Be it resolved that the Powhatan County Board of Supervisors must abandon the current “target budgeting” approach, which has contributed to excessive spending, in favor of “performance budgeting,” which ties spending to measurable standards.

2. Be it resolved that the Powhatan County Board of Supervisors must require a fiscal impact statement for all proposed ordinances and ordinance amendments.

3. Be it resolved that the Powhatan County Board of Supervisors must provide citizens with wider and more timely access to information about County government’s activities.

4. Be it resolved that the Powhatan County Board of Supervisors must adopt ordinances to protect the County’s elderly residents from dramatic increases in County taxes.

5. Be it resolved that the Powhatan County Board of Supervisors must upgrade the professional qualifications of the staff of the County government.

6. Be it resolved that the Powhatan County Board of Supervisors must adopt a sensible economic development plan that will heighten the prospects of expanding the County’s business tax revenue base, thereby reducing the tax burden on homeowners without accelerating the rate of growth in the County.

7. Be it resolved that the Powhatan County Board of Supervisors must to the extent practicable, implement a program that imposes the cost of new development on those who benefit from it.

8. Be it resolved that the Powhatan County Board of Supervisors must modernize all County systems to reduce waste, improve performance and enhance accountability.

9. Be it resolved that the Powhatan County Board of Supervisors must adopt and implement a Comprehensive Plan that accommodates the unavoidable aspects of growth so that the County’s residents are burdened as little as possible, the County’s environment will be protected and the County’s decisions about locating and financing its infrastructure will not contribute to future development patterns that needlessly harm the County’s scenic beauty, its sense of community and its long-term financial condition.

These Resolutions have been adopted this Twelfth Day of May in the year of our LORD Two thousand and Seven by the Powhatan Republican Party in Mass Meeting and each of its candidates for the Board of Supervisors for the ensuing election.