Fairfax County General :
Fairfax Underground
Welcome to Fairfax Underground, a project site designed to improve communication among residents of Fairfax County, VA. Feel free to post anything Northern Virginia residents would find interesting.
Welcome to Fairfax Underground, a project site designed to improve communication among residents of Fairfax County, VA. Feel free to post anything Northern Virginia residents would find interesting.
Why have elections for Commissioner of Revenue??
Posted by:
Berritt
()
Date: October 28, 2009 08:41PM
I just noticed on the Fairfax City sample ballot that Commissioner of the Revenue Page Johnson is running unopposed again. This is annoying because he's basically coming off of what looked like a corruption scandal between him and a few members of City Council.
Which made me wonder: Why do we bother electing these people anyway?
Commissioner of Revenue is basically an administrative, bureaucratic job. It doesn't need to be politicized. In theory the election makes the Commissioner work directly for the people, but in reality it's too easy to get someone whose only qualification is chumminess with other politicians, and then no one will challenge them.
Seems we can save a lot of money, and have better government, if these positions are eliminated. Does anyone know if Virginia's ever tried to do that?
Which made me wonder: Why do we bother electing these people anyway?
Commissioner of Revenue is basically an administrative, bureaucratic job. It doesn't need to be politicized. In theory the election makes the Commissioner work directly for the people, but in reality it's too easy to get someone whose only qualification is chumminess with other politicians, and then no one will challenge them.
Seems we can save a lot of money, and have better government, if these positions are eliminated. Does anyone know if Virginia's ever tried to do that?
Re: Why have elections for Commissioner of Revenue??
Posted by:
Registered Voter
()
Date: October 28, 2009 11:14PM
There wasn't any corruption scandal. They were trying to make a change in where the Real Estate Assessment office was managed, currently under the Finance Dept.
Many jurisdictions in Virginia have eliminated both their Commissioner of Revenue and their Treasurer offices. In the old days it was more common to have the positions as forms of checks and balances to ensure money collected, managed and spent were reviewed by different elected officials. In today's world of professional auditors, regular mandatory audits and similar fiduciary changes, the positions are largely redundant. It would actually save the City a significant amount of money each year to eliminate the positions, as they receive 6 figure incomes that are partially paid from City funds.
If you can’t model the past, where you know the answer pretty well, how can you model the future? - William Happer Cyrus Fogg Brackett Professor of Physics Princeton University
Many jurisdictions in Virginia have eliminated both their Commissioner of Revenue and their Treasurer offices. In the old days it was more common to have the positions as forms of checks and balances to ensure money collected, managed and spent were reviewed by different elected officials. In today's world of professional auditors, regular mandatory audits and similar fiduciary changes, the positions are largely redundant. It would actually save the City a significant amount of money each year to eliminate the positions, as they receive 6 figure incomes that are partially paid from City funds.
If you can’t model the past, where you know the answer pretty well, how can you model the future? - William Happer Cyrus Fogg Brackett Professor of Physics Princeton University
Re: Why have elections for Commissioner of Revenue??
Posted by:
RayJay
()
Date: October 28, 2009 11:24PM
Hello gents i am looking for anybody that has any suggestions as to the whereabouts of some good high quality FREE gloryholes in the Fairfax area. Any suggestions???
Re: Why have elections for Commissioner of Revenue??
Posted by:
Registered Voter
()
Date: October 28, 2009 11:38PM
10520 Judicial Drive - just go up to the large doors and knock. The password is FCPD Sucks. They should let you in and set you right up.
Let us know how that goes.
If you can’t model the past, where you know the answer pretty well, how can you model the future? - William Happer Cyrus Fogg Brackett Professor of Physics Princeton University
Let us know how that goes.
If you can’t model the past, where you know the answer pretty well, how can you model the future? - William Happer Cyrus Fogg Brackett Professor of Physics Princeton University