A Spoon Full Of Sugar

Budget season is often frustrating for many in the County and I would include myself in that mix. This budgeting season has been a blur of questionable choices, all presented with a calm voice and semi smile. A spoon full of sugar may make the medicine go down but it isn’t really fooling anybody. This year’s budget stinks and that fact doesn’t get any easier to accept no matter how it is presented.

The Budget Committee voted to increase taxes 7 cents and use nearly $750,000 of fund balance to balance the 2014-2015 budget. Hey, that would have been great if it had actually accomplished anything, but it didn’t. This Committee did not address any of the needs of the County departments. They simply took the “proposed” budget, which did not include department requests, and refused to even look at funding any items beyond that bare bones proposal. The Committee did not consider the “alternate” budget that has such frills as covering the increase in lease payment for the Finance Office or food supplies for the Jail. Let’s just forgo funding EMS overtime pay, even though the County has already been in trouble for that oversight and the penalties will most likely be larger than the funding request. We should just ignore our annual contribution to the local scholarship fund even though we have students that are currently depending on it. Our County Departments don’t need software or computers to service the citizens of Jefferson County. Pen and paper will do-well, maybe not but who cares. And, why would we even consider any needs of the library. Forget that citizens of Jefferson County have worked very hard to provide that facility. Who needs books anyway? Obviously over rated.

Three months ago I read our County audit and discovered that the County, we, have $666,303 in an assigned fund in our County General Fund Balance. Hotel/Motel tax has been rolling into that fund for several years and no one knew about it. Well, no one admitted to knowing about it anyway. Basically, we are $666,303 richer than we thought we were because the County only has use of unassigned funds and those funds were “mistakenly” assigned. I talked to our Finance Director Helton. I talked to our County Commission Chairman Mills. I talked to our Budget Committee Chairman Griffith. None of them made even one move toward looking into these found funds. Finally, during the June budget Committee meeting, someone heard me and took me seriously. I must give Kudos to Commissioners Carmichael, Beeler and Scarlett. Carmichael brought the $666,303 up during a Motion, which made it a part of record. Commissioner Scarlett, who is not on the budget committee, had already been asking questions. But, it was Commissioner Beeler that actually disclosed what I had been saying for three months as true-there is $666,303 that can be used to better this County and the budget committee, or should I say some of the budget committee, is comfortable letting it ride.

Mills supposed that it might take a resolution to move the money and that could take time. Helton supposed that he was right. Is $666,303 not worth more of a definitive answer than a supposition? I don’t think that they are right. I don’t think that they know. They should have known because Helton confirmed that the funds are there and available for use. If they were not put there by resolution, and they were not, then why do they need to be moved by resolution? $666,303 is a lot of money and it could be used to do good things in Jefferson County. Instead, it is going to sit, minus $115,000 that was voted to pay the excess of Chamber of Commerce and EDOC funding that is not covered by next year’s hotel/motel tax. I find this to be outrageous and unacceptable when we are cutting departments and services that our citizens need and depend on. So, my question of the week is this-if in fact Helton and Mills do not think that the funds can be used for anything other than economic development with out a resolution, why did they not amend this year’s budget when all of the other amendments were passed this week so that we can use the $330,000 or so that we are paying the Chamber and EDOC this fiscal year? After all, the entire hotel/motel tax for 2013 rolled into the $666,303 and the Chamber and EDOC payments came out of property taxes. Do they not care or did they just want to be done? One we can’t do anything about but the other is certainly changeable. And soon.