Hard to make cuts in flesh and blood

Setting a county budget during an economic downturn is a grueling prioritization of values. The last few weeks of BOC budget meetings have been like a weekly trip to a collective teeth pulling minus the Novacaine.

Do we cut jobs? If so, how many? Why? Do we raise taxes? If so, how much?

Line 1112 on the 30th page of that budget is not just a department line item, but an actual man, Jim Baird, a part-time county building inspector. Baird stood at the podium last week and urged the board to reconsider eliminating his job.

But it’s unlikely that he swayed them to his side. With less construction in the county these days, there’s not as much need for building inspections. A layoff in the inspections department makes as much sense as any job elimination in the county government. A transfer station employee can expect to be out of a job soon, too.

But how much can you whittle away on services?

Should you eliminate animal control? Should you make cuts in EMS? Should you cut the county recreation budget, the library, the senior center, the transfer station, the sheriff’s department … and on and on?

There are great philosophical divides in this county about what is sacred and what is not when it comes to taxpayer money.

Make any suggested cut and you surely make an enemy.

It’s a tough, tough talk — a tougher vote. When you put money in one place, you’re denying it in another. There’s just no easy way out.

For instance, it makes sense in an economic crunch to cut recreation services before anything else. Families certainly eliminate trips to the movies and other leisure activities when they are in a financial bind. It seems appropriate for a county to function that way, too. Commissioner Bruce Scogin said as much last week at the BOC table, but he emphasized later that he didn’t want to whittle away on the rec budget. There is a great degree of political pain attached to cutting services for children’s play. John Pethel Sr., who holds the biggest scissors on the board, dropped those clippers on that subject, noting that parents will beg, borrow and steal for their kids. Slashing these services is slashing your wrists politically. As it stands, the recreation budget will stay relatively the same next year, up from $628,000 to $630,000.

Of course, the county has outstanding recreation facilities and leadership. That’s not the issue. When it comes to tough budget matters, the question is about where you put your limited funds to make the most difference. As I listened to the BOC debate deeper cuts in the EMS budget and heard Scogin’s comment about recreation dollars during that discussion, I thought of my own family, my own values. If I had to choose between strong ambulance services versus strong rec services, which is the kind of value judgment made in budgeting, then I vote for the ambulance service, while offering a prayer that my child, my family never need it.

Likewise, if you give me a choice between cutting animal control and cutting back ambulance services, cut the animal control.

As we consider cuts, we should recognize that certain services will need more money in darker days. For instance, as the economy deteriorates and more and more struggling people make bad choices, we’re going to need more money for the sheriff’s department and the jail.

This is a sad truth — but a truth.

The BOC budget is not done. And the board’s work will probably only get tougher in coming weeks. Think about the roughly $600,000 in promised funds from the state that might not be coming this year. The state is in a bad way right now. It seems likely they’ll keep all the money they can.

Think about the fact that there is no safety net — no contingency funding — currently in the 2009 budget.

And on down the road, think about how property values over the next two or three years could tumble if the housing market doesn’t recover, how that could lead to tremendous revenue shortfalls for local governments.

Consider, too, that old revenue staple of sales tax funding will likely fall far behind projections, too.

Yes, I’ve watched commissioners spend hour after hour in recent weeks searching for “fat” to cut. They’ve shown real diligence in reviewing each line item. Whether I agree or disagree with particular decisions, I recognize the board’s predicament. The state government is facing a revenue meltdown, with a projected $2 billion shortfall. And the BOC, through no fault of its own, will likely face a crippling revenue crunch, too, over the next few months.

Perhaps I’m being overly pessimistic. I have that bad tendency. But I think there is sufficient evidence for this bleak view.

Now commissioners must wait for the revenue picture to clear up. They’ll need to sharpen their blades, because more slicing may be required.

And any real cuts in this flesh and blood budget will surely leave their wounds.

Painful times, indeed.

Zach Mitcham is editor of The Madison County Journal.