September May Cure All

It is every year, about this time, that I realize just how many things perplex me. The budgeting process has begun and the political process is in full swing. One is enough to leave me scratching my head, little alone the combination. Politics and budgets make ugly bedfellows. Really, really-the two coyote kind of really-ugly bedfellows.  These are the questions that I find myself pondering at 2am.

• If the County has no increase in health insurance and, yet, an increase of about 5% was built into the budget then why do department heads not get use of those “found” funds?
• Does the Budget Committee realize that to expect the same budget from one year to the next is to actually ask for a cut from last year’s operating budget because the cost of doing business increases from year to year?
• Has anyone ever calculated the costs that would be assigned to tax payers if there were no non profits to provide services (or would we just all do without?)?
• Why is it that the Chamber of Commerce and EDOC get such a large portion of the non profit funding when they are assigned the hotel/motel tax and should their portion of the non profit funding not be limited to just that assigned tax?
• Why is there $666,303 assigned in the County General Fund for Industrial Development and neither the Finance Director, the Chairman of the CountyCommission nor the Budget Committee Chairman know why it is there?
• Why is the hotel/motel tax rolling into that assigned fund and, therefore, why is property tax dollars being used to fund the Chamber of Commerce and EDOC?
• Why when I ask the two previous questions am I met with a blank look and no answers, even though I have been asking those same questions for several weeks?
• How is it that some departments come in with requests that are serious increases in budget and they get the nod but others can’t buy paper clips?
• How many times are we going to be witness to and impacted by the CountyCommission’s split vote political party line pandering?
• Why do the same people sit, year and year and term after term, on Committees and Boards, eliminating any new ideas from fresh faces? ( there have been applications submitted but Commissioner will call citizens that are slotted to leave a Board or Committee, even though they have not expressed interest in being reassigned, rather than give someone who is truly interested a chance to serve)
• Why do I, sadly, know what the vote is going to be even before the votes are counted?
• And lastly, why does it take three hours to do what I, and anyone who has ever attended or watched more than two County Commission meetings, could have told you that they were going to do when first looking at the agenda?

Perhaps there is one more question that I have been pondering recently. After years of debate and back and forth (by the CountyCommission) on a funding formula, the Fire Departments brought back a proposal. Yes, there was an increase in requested funds and surely that was expected. My question is this –the combined total of contribution to the Chamber of Commerce and EDOC is $340,000 and the requested increase to the entire lot of  Fire Departments is 275,000($666,303 is earmarked for industrial development and has just been accumulating)How can the County Commission disregard adequately funding a safety measure that benefits every citizen of Jefferson County and pour taxpayer dollars into two that do not believe that they are obligated to be transparent with how they spend Jefferson County taxpayer’s money? One saves lives, homes and property and one is supposed to boost the economy. It is a serious question that deserves a serious answer from our CountyCommissioners. There is nothing wrong with funding the Chamber of Commerce or EDOC, if you have the funds, but they should not be at the head of the line and their requests should be more in line with their contributions.

So that, and perhaps an unfortunate choice for a late night snack, is what keeps me up at night. No worries, it is nothing that an anti acid and September can’t cure.