Last week our town management sent me (and 40,000 other residents) our new quarterly tax bill. About
eight months ago, every house in Montclair was reassessed and each homeowner was informed how much of an increase or decrease the $$$ change would be.
The bill came last week. I was expecting a serious increase, but was completely shocked when the tax notice was actually $4,000 higher than what had been communicated to me And, 40,000 other taxpayers in my town also experienced mysterious increases from $500-$5,000 as well. Over the next two days, many residents worked themselves into a frenzy, wanting blood because there was absolutely no explanation or supplemental documentation to explain why.
How bad did it get? The town managers received hundreds of angry calls (and some serious threats), a number of well read town gossip blogs blasted those same politicians, calling for their removal and our town newspaper wrote a number of damning articles about the unacceptable actions and lack of communications surrounding this debacle.
As it turns out, the increased tax amount actually represented the added burden we should have been billed for the two previous quarters, but never were. The response from the Montclair Town Manager in a newspaper article came across as uncaring, as he basically told all of those people paying his salary to just deal with it and shut up. Now, those people who were just mildly steamed (or indifferent) at first, are also calling for his ouster as well.
Local town and municipal politicians have always been the worst offenders of not understanding the basic principle of stimulus and response (and ours is one of the worse I’ve ever seen). But, mastering this concept is actually pretty easy. And it makes a world of difference. Think about what type of response you’d like to receive from those constituents you are supposed to be caring for. Then communicate and/or provide the right stimulus that will get you that response.
It’s really Psychology 101 and an effective communication philosophy that has been used by marketers in public relations, advertising and other campaigns forever. It’s also an important approach to think about when managing people (or managing your wife) and can be utilized to truly influence people and communicate that much more effectively in life. As a matter of fact, I try my best never to meet with anyone unless I’ve had an opportunity to think about the desired response… and the stimulus that can get me to the Promised Land.
Why couldn’t our town manager have enclosed a two paragraph explanation of the tax increase with our bills in a concerned and caring tone? If he was smart, a well placed article in the local newspaper prior to receiving the new tax bill would also have been wise. No doubt, the increase wouldn’t have brought a smile to our face, but at least he wouldn’t be under siege right now. I’d like to assume that his failure to understand stimulus/response is the major problem with our Montclair political bone heads. But, as a friend pointed out the other night, the more obvious answer is that they probably just don’t give a damn. And, unfortunately nothing will ever solve that.
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