Editor, Gazette-Journal:
After reading John Meyer’s view on Gloucester’s bond referendum that is on the November ballot, I feel compelled to respond to his false claims. With the exception of the fire and rescue projects, all items on this referendum are in the County’s Capital Improvement Plan.
In his op-ed, John Meyer implied we had $30 million in cash in our unassigned fund balance, and that we could pay cash for the new firehouse. This is not true.
At the June 6, 2017 board meeting, the BOS (including Meyer, BOS 2014-2018) voted to increase the fund balance policy from 10-12 percent to 14-16 percent because the County Administrator told the board that “the policy change [was] to ensure that the county [could] meet its financial obligations in a timely fashion. He noted that the current policy [did] not support fiscal liquidity sufficient to support the obligations of the county.” The board, including Meyer, voted unanimously (7-0) for this policy, which is still in place today.
Bas...