Down The Sewer Pipe – Politically Speaking

Now that he budget process is over, for most governments in the United States of America, there is a little something we need to mention. Budgets are a mixture of a wish list and a road map of where public funds will be spent in the coming year or biennium.  Some places use a biannual process for budgeting.

News media will cause panic in the streets when the initial budget is presented to the public.  No matte if the population in a town or county is large or small, the news media shouts that the budget is out of whack.  And they are right it is.

The initial budget contains everything that the staff and the elected officials want to do.  From having been in the elected position, the real question is what to fund and what to not fund.  Not funding does not mean that whatever should not be done, it does mean that it is not a priority.

The second round will be much better, although it can still be greater than the amount of projected income, and decisions need to be made.  These decisions are two fold:

• Do without.
• Raises taxes and fees.
• A mixture of the two that is cut back a service while raising the rate for it.

The only time for the public to panic is when the budget, for the coming year, does not balance the day before adoption.

Sherman