Bitter Budget Battles

Orange Review
Published: March 6, 2008

Most of us probably don’t think much about government services. We think about them when we need them. They go about their business--helping citizens--and we don’t really think too much about it all until it comes to paying for them.

Sure, when we call 911 we want a deputy or a rescue unit to arrive at our homes. We don’t think about the cost.

We want to be able to dump our trash, but we don’t think about what it costs. 

We want our children to get a quality education. We don’t fret over how much their teachers are making or the costs of their school supplies.

We think bigger picture, right?

Each year, about this time, our county officials make tough choices about what programs to fund and which areas to cut in the county budget. They wrestle with proposed tax increases and consider the impact those increases will have on a sometimes unsuspecting public.

This year’s a little different, though.

Our county supervisors have taken a bold step and dramatically cut funding to recreation programs. Essentially, they’ve said recreation--more or less--needs to pay for itself.

Suddenly, we’re thinking about what our government services cost.

This is a challenging budget cycle. Most of the supervisors are committed to building a 1,200-student middle school at the county’s eastern end which will significantly impact the county’s debt service and real estate tax rate.

In an effort to carve that money out of existing funds, the board has opted not to fund a popular (but money-losing) child care program and told parks and rec it needs to increase its fees to pay its own way.

Government services cost. They’re loss leaders. They don’t make money. If they did, they’d be private enterprise.

We understand the board’s commitment to constructing the new school and have endorsed that. At the same time, we recognize the importance of recreation programs to our community.
People need things to do. People need places to go. (All work and no play...)

Our schools don’t make money. Our landfill doesn’t make money. Our libraries don’t make money. Our animal shelter doesn’t make money. All worthy services. Not cash cows.

We don’t want to pit county departments against each other in a bitter budget battle. What we want to do is see that some core services are provided to county citizens at reasonable costs.

If changes need to be made in parks and rec programs to protect some of those core programs (the Gordonsville Pool?) so be it. County staff should circle those wagons and figure out how to provide the most services that benefit the most folks while dropping or reducing those that have limited appeal.

The county has made a tremendous investment in recreation over the last dozen years. Suddenly, this is one government service a lot of folks either have started thinking about or soon will.