Miller says commish needs to cut spending

In six years on the China Grove Board of Aldermen, John Miller says he learned a lot about budgets and cutting unnecessary spending.

Miller is one of eight Republican candidates for the three available seats on the Rowan County Board of Commissioners.

“Instead of continuing to expand and add on to programs, we need to take a serious look, find unnecessary spending and cut it,” said Miller. “If we don’t do that, we will see the tax rates run wild.

“I feel like I have the expertise and experience to sniff out unnecessary spending, how to stretch dollars as far as they can be stretched.”

Though he says he’s “not running against anybody,” Miller adds, “if the people who are in there now have done the best they can, we need a change.”

The 54-year-old pastor blames much of the problems of the county and municipalities on Democratic control of state government.

With Gov. Mike Easley withholding money from the counties and towns, Miller said it is imperative for counties to make cuts.

“The Democrats in Raleigh have brought us to our knees,” he said.

He believes that some reorganization of the county operations could save money.

For example, he cites the emergency services operations where ambulances often drive long distances to pick up a patient.

In Miller’s view, the county’s volunteer fire departments should play a bigger role. “The volunteer fire departments that are equipped as first responders should be used and should do transports.”

Miller cites the case of the China Grove Fire Department, which has a fully-equipped ambulance and is authorized for transport.

“The transports are few and far between,” said Miller.

He suggests redirecting some money now spent on emergency services to the fire departments, which can provide quicker service to residents throughout the county.

Miller also has concerns about the pending revaluation of property, saying that tax values are already too high.

With schools getting one of the largest shares of county tax dollars, Miller said the school administrators and board “need to take a serious look at the way they do things. … They need to make cuts to better utilize their funds.”

Two years ago, Miller lost to Cherie Berry in a bid for the state Republican party nomination to run for Commissioner of Labor. His bid for re-election to the China Grove Town Council failed last year. Miller said he did little campaigning due to his father’s health problems.

He is committed to spending as much time as needed in the upcoming campaign.

Contact Jessie Burchette at jburchette@salisburypost.com  or call 704-797-4254.