Take Back Enterprise aims to educate citizens

A new group in Enterprise aims to educate the citizens about the actions of the city's government and the people in leadership.

Take Back Enterprise is a non-partisan, non-profit group that wants to promote transparency, participation and collaboration between the city's elected officials and the citizens of Enterprise.

The group held its first public meeting on Monday, Aug. 24.

Turner Townsend, with his brother Michael, helped found the group Take Back Enterprise. They began looking into the transparency of the government after the half-cent sales tax was passed in July 2014.

"There's been a lot going on in Enterprise," Turner Townsend said at the meeting. "All of you are probably here for any number of reasons. I know (the sales tax is) one issue, probably the issue that got my attention the most last summer.

"Some of you are here for school board issues; some of you are here because you're dissatisfied with the way the skate park was going, or how the Westside community was being treated, or many other different reasons. That's why we were formed, because there were all these different groups that were dissatisfied with things in the community."

One issue discussed at the meeting was where the money from the sales tax is going.

According to Turner Townsend, city officials have said that the revenue from the sales tax increase has not kept up with population growth since 2004.

"They actually outstripped them 111 percent to 27 percent (in population growth)," Turner Townsend said.

Turner Townsend then discussed five new sources of revenue for the city that have been created since 2008, as a rebuttal for the city's high credit score.

In 2008, the council passed a half-cent sales tax, creating about $2.25 million in revenue or a 17 percent sales tax increase.

In 2008, citizens voted to keep a $3.5 million ad valorem tax in a special election, which had previously been used for nursing home purposes. The tax would then be used for public school purposes and city needs.

That tax created about $950,000 in annual revenue.

In 2009, a hotel and lodging tax was passed, creating a 300 percent increase in taxes and about $300,000 in new revenue.

In 2010, citizens voted to create a fire tax. The tax created $300,000 in annual revenue.

In 2014, the council passed another half-cent sales tax, creating another $2.25 million increase in revenue.

According to Turner Townsend, the city has seen a 33 percent total increase for the city in sales tax since 2008.

He also showed the voting records of each councilmember and the council as a whole.

The council has had 244 council meetings in the last 10 years and has voted on 2,575 issues. The Aug. 18 city council meeting was not included.

There have been 12,539 yes votes, which is 99.98 percent of the votes, and 3 no votes, 0.02 percent of total votes.

Turner Townsend compared the transparency of Enterprise's government with that of Beaufort, S.C.

"There are some communities around the country that are doing a much better job than we are (in terms of transparency), that we should look to as examples," Turner Townsend said.

Beaufort is a city with a population of about 12,000 people with a budget of about $19.8 million, making it about half the size of Enterprise, with a population of about 26,000 and a budget of about $44 million.

Beaufort is on the same accounting system as Enterprise. However, Beaufort provides access to each transaction and the percentages of city spending for those who wish to access the information on their website.

Other issues Take Back Enterprise focused on were issues with Freedom of Information Act requests, the city not having a clear process for board appointments, being completely transparent on capital projects, providing minutes of all meetings and live streaming future meetings.

"We aren't here with only complaints," Turner Townsend said. "We want to bring solutions to the table. We've got ideas, and we've got demands."

Michael Townsend said the goals of Take Back Enterprise are to create an open government for the future.

"This is a forward-looking process," Michael Townsend said. "What we're concerned about is, if we don't do something now, where is (Enterprise) going to be. We will certainly have to take it back then. We want to prevent it from getting there."

For more information about Take Back Enterprise, visit the group's website at www.takebackenterprise.com, the Take Back Enterprise Facebook page or email the group at [email protected].