Climb With It Or Swing By It

This week Jefferson County residents let their lack of action speak louder than words. After several weeks of wondering, the Jefferson County Budget Committee now has their answer. The wheel tax increase will stand. It does not surprise me that the issue will not go to referendum. Getting 1046 qualified signatures is not as easy as it sounds but I really did think that there would have been a stronger push toward putting the issue to vote. When the County Commission originally voted on the resolution to, in essence, double the wheel tax in Jefferson County, there was some strong opposition to the move. Strong enough and loud enough that I would have expected to see more than 160 total signatures on petitions. Did the public understand all along what it has taken some elected officials years to grasp? There are no free rides. Building anything costs money. If you build a dog house, it costs money. If you build an addition onto your home, it costs money. It is the same inside the County, be it with schools or other County buildings. The debate about need is long over. We whined, we dined and now we must pay the bill. Did the general public know that the County financial position was as bleak as it is? Most of our elected officials didn’t acknowledge that we were writing checks that we simply couldn’t cover.

A couple of weeks ago the Budget Committee made the decision to commit to a zero property tax increase if the wheel tax were the stand. Some have viewed their discussion, and their goal setting, to be more a threat than a promise. I disagree. I was in that meeting and took them to be saying more- one place or the other, wheel tax or property tax, but not both. I am quite sure that they would like to be able to skirt by without either a property tax or wheel tax increase but the numbers say that it just isn’t possible. Now comes the hard part. This committee will be cutting until they see bone. People are going to be mad. People are going to be furious. And people are going to forget that what we wanted was no tax increase. Make no mistake, there is no fairy tale ending and the glass slipper is going to be several sizes too small.

If the citizens of Jefferson County are not prepared to dissect our County government and our fiscal priorities, those citizens should be front and center, making themselves known. We have no money for wants, or speculations or even, sadly, charity. These will be hard, ugly cuts and these Commissioners will not be making any friends by making these cuts. The County swallowed hard at doubling the wheel tax but most realized that this dead end fiscal road does not end in a cul de sac and finding our way onto solid fiscal ground is going to take eight years of eating off the dollar menu. We have taken the first, painful, step toward fiscal sobriety. The citizens have offered a little rope to help climb out of the money pit that we have fallen into. Climbing with it or swinging by it, the ball is now in their court.