THE 2026 MOUNT VERNON BUDGET: 321280 AA CASE STUDY IN MANIPULATION, MISMANAGEMENT &MANUFACTURED "SAVINGS"
Originally Distributed on 11/20/25 - https://conta.cc/43F67AA
Mount Vernon residents deserve honesty, stability, and leadership rooted in fiscal discipline. What they got instead in the 2026 Draft Budget is a dangerous mix of inflated numbers, political theater, and a tax strategy that punishes residents while masking systemic failures. Below is the truth, stripped of spin, excuses, and staged heroics. 1. A 6.09% TAX INCREASE IN A CITY ALREADY STRUGGLINGThe 2026 Draft Budget proposes raising the property-tax rate from $519.30 to $550.94 per thousand in assessed value— a 6.09% jump.Residents are paying more, while streets, services, safety, and stability continue to deteriorate.This is not a tax plan. It’s a fiscal penalty on a community held hostage by government incompetence. 2. BUDGET BLOAT + WEAK REVENUES = A CITY IN DECLINEThe proposed 2026 city budget climbs to $156.18 million, up from ~$148 million only two years ago.Meanwhile, the city admits revenue declines in:
3. THE MAYOR’S BUDGET SHELL GAME: HOW LEADERSHIP INVENTS FAKE “SAVINGS”This is the part nobody else will say out loud — but The Voice will:Shawyn Patterson-Howard has a pattern.Every year she releases a bloated, unrealistic, padded draft budget designed to shock the public.Then later, she releases the “Real Budget,” parading around as if she personally “cut” and “saved” the city millions. This tactic is:
In reality:She is not cutting anything.She is simply “reducing” from a fake, inflated starting number that was never real to begin with. This is the same sleight-of-hand used in discount scams: Mark a $20 shirt as $200 → “discount” it to $70 → brag about the savingsThe mayor creates the crisis → then “solves” the crisis→ and expects applause→ while residents still pay more. It is budget theater, not budget management. 4. RELIANCE ON ONE-TIME FEDERAL MONEY IS A WARNING SIGNThe city is plugging holes with $5 million in ARPA funds — money meant for recovery, not routine operating expenses.
5. STAFFING & SALARIES KEEP GROWING — SERVICES DO NOTEven as the city raises taxes:
6. A PATTERN OF CHAOS, NOT GOVERNANCEMount Vernon residents have watched:
THE BOTTOM LINE: A CITY THAT PAYS MORE AND GETS LESSMount Vernon’s 2026 budget makes one thing painfully clear:This city does not have a revenue problem.It has a leadership problem.Taxpayers are expected to carry a city that leadership refuses to run responsibly.Mount Vernon deserves better.Mount Vernon residents deserve better.And The Voice will continue to expose every layer of this political theater until the truth breaks through the spin. |
Stay informed. Stay involved. The time to act is NOW! |
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