Residents in the tiny borough of Volant, Pennsylvania, were in for quite a surprise when their town council recently approved a 57% property tax increase. With no prior warning or public discussions, the decision left residents like Cheryl Geidner shocked and confused.
Geidner, a property owner in Volant, was taken aback by the sudden increase and the lack of transparency shown by the council. She, along with her husband John, helped oversee a business in the town of 126 residents. Geidner stated, “There had never been a mention of that… You didn’t see the budget. You didn’t see the ordinance. I think everybody was somewhat taken aback.”
This lack of communication and transparency has been a growing trend among local governments all across the United States. According to David Cuillier, director of the Joseph L. Brechner Freedom of Information Project at the University of Florida, “It’s been going on for decades, really, but it’s accelerated the past 10 years.”
The compliance of local governments with public records requests has dropped from 63% to 42% between 2010 and 2021, as reported by Cuillier based on data provided by MuckRock, a nonprofit news site that files and shares public records requests.
The town of Volant has been a prime example of this trend. After the council abruptly approved the preliminary budget in November, a local reporter requested a copy of it and was denied. When told to schedule a meeting with the borough’s secretary to obtain the information, the reporter was met with a closed office.
The council president, Howard Moss, and the vice president, Glenn Smith, did not respond to requests for comment. At a meeting on Tuesday where the council gave final approval to the tax increase, Smith stated that the borough has been operating at a deficit for years but avoided raising taxes previously due to COVID-19 and high unemployment.
Residents of Volant are not the only ones who have been facing difficulties in accessing public information. Incidents of governments suing journalists and residents for making records requests have become more common.
California’s open government advocates recently sued the city of Fresno for conducting secret budget negotiations for years. In Georgia, residents of Sapelo Island accused county officials of making it difficult for them to attend important public meetings by scheduling them after the last ferry was set to depart.
Experts attribute this growing trend to a variety of factors, including the lack of sufficient staff and infrastructure in local agencies to process records requests, the decline of local media institutions, and the increased polarization within communities. With the rise of highly divisive school board members and election falsehoods, school boards and election offices have also been facing an influx of records requests, further compounding the problem.
In addition to requesting records, accessing local government meetings has also become more difficult in many areas. Elected officials are discussing significant public business in closed sessions, and some are becoming combative with their constituents. Researchers and open government advocates are concerned about this growing trend and are working to ensure that governments operate in a transparent and accountable manner.
