Number Crunching

Last week's county budget workshop provided a highlighter for the cliché "never say never."

That because when he pronounced at the beginning of the year that there would be no layoffs of county employees in 2009, the chairman of the Board of County Commissioners made a pledge that may only be fulfilled on the back of the working class of this county.

First, the presentation itself, which came from the budget committee charged by commissioners to craft what could essentially be labeled a status report.

This committee clearly worked hard, likely had some charged discussions and provided a concise and understandable explanation of where things stand, generally-speaking, in the county.

However, this is a committee of department heads, constitutional officers and county staff and other than the constitutional officers, who must still have their budgets approved by commissioners, these are folks down the organizational chart from where decisions are made.

They answer to five bosses who make the final decisions.

If there was any doubt how that reality, and the employees, can be twisted like taffy, consider that just prior to the budget workshop was a workshop on economic development that was effectively for the benefit of one commissioner who felt out of the loop of the progress of the Economic Development Council.

And given the commission's history of completely ignoring the public, and any committees appointed from the private sector, the members of the budget committee must have been under enormous pressure not to offend the sensibilities of five individuals with often competing agendas.

Further, commissioners should, this year more than ever, take the lead and provide details to the outline.

For starters, why not privatize the jail?

This cost represents more than 10 percent of the budget and the jail, despite incremental improvements, remains a lawsuit waiting to happen, the amount of money commissioners are tossing at it having increased since they were handed the keys.

Another example is Public Works, only in the sense that the committee explained that the department expends more than 10 percent of the property tax dollars that come into the county, but with no details on how and where.

The cost of maintaining the two courthouses in the county is over $500,000. Why? Does $300,000 in work crew expenses provide sufficient bang for the buck?

As stated in this space last week, the presentations the county provides are consistently clear on the broad outline, but the digging deeper, the getting to each line and determining need balanced against cost is lacking, and the fault lies squarely with commissioners who emit the vibe that they would just as soon folks not read the fine print.

It should also be noted that one of the committee recommendations for bringing in additional revenue was to initiate a half-cent tax, which would bring in $300,000 or so.

After all the bombast about the school district this year, note that commissioners - as they have repeatedly in the past - can implement another revenue stream with but three votes.

But what must be the alarming portion of the presentation for county taxpayers was the bottom line as mapped out by the committee.

In short strokes, with the committee's recommendations for cuts, non-recurring costs and revenue factored in, commissioners will have to slice another $1.9 million from the budget if they desire to maintain current millage rates.

And in this time of real economic difficulties, when taxpayers need every bit of relief they can receive, the county, after raising spending, and in turn taxing, levels by more than 120 percent this decade, would still be cutting less than 10 percent from the budget if commissioners adopted outright the committee's recommendations.

Additionally, commissioners would be raising the millage rate by one mill.

The cut in spending and increase in millage - the committee is operating on the likelihood there will be at least a 25 percent drop in property values this year - will most benefit those with property lacking a homestead exemption, but the percentages are unbalanced across the board.

A homeowner with a property value this year of $575,769 will see their property drop by 25 percent in value while their taxes fall by just 9 percent.

The math is the same with a property valued at $50,000 this year, and not having a homestead exemption. The value will fall 25 percent, taxes by just under 10 percent.

 But a homestead exemption, meaning those folks who have put down roots and care to remain in place, living in small-town paradise, comes with a price tag.

A property valued at $932,979 and the owner having a homestead exemption, will see the property value drop 25 percent and taxes go up by more than 20 percent. Under the committee's scenario, the taxes, $1,385 this year, would go up by $332.

And owners of property with a homestead exemption and valued at $139,664 this year - which would encompass much of the working folks of the county - would see their property values fall by 25 percent and their taxes rise by $49.41, or more than 20 percent.

Those will be hard numbers to swallow for already burdened taxpayers. And it renders cynical any pronouncements about maintaining the current workforce commissioners have spent nine years bloating.