[Winona Online Democracy] Here is a note I recently sent to the County Human Service Advisory Committee about this tough task --- *** Regarding cuts-- The approach Dept. Heads at the County used recently in evaluating what might be considered by the County Board for cuts was - a.. What is legally required for the County to do? b.. Where is the County Property Tax money actually spent? -- cutting things that spend little or none of local property tax is not going to help the budget problem. c.. If something is cut, is the County going to legally have to do and/or pay for the consequences? And, d.. If something is cut, is the County going to pay the price due to community pressure? This is not just getting a call from a few people -- this is like saying you won't arrest criminals, you will leave drunks on the street, you will leave psychotic people sleeping on the streets, etc, etc. -- let your imagination go... And, for the last two you have to do some estimations of how much and how soon the impact will be felt. The State Legislature cut preventative programs proven to reduce crime, abuse, prison time and school drop out rates. They apparently believed they had to cut for the short term and will face the cost of the consequences later - or let the next batch of elected Legislators do so. Doing that was bad policy and bad leadership. The alternative was to raise taxes and they chose not to. Now the Counties face the consequences. However, a County's ability to raise taxes is limited by the Legislature. The political taxing question before our County Board is simple but it is limited by the State. Our County can set a levy increase up to the state imposed levy limit. We are looking at a choice between 5% (some want even less - some Commissioners and lots of citizens out there) and the max allowed of 11%. For the total county budget there is no ability to go over the 11%. Even with that there are extensive cuts needed. The County can re-allocate how they spend the local tax money - but that has proven to be a very difficult task for our County Board. It means having to decide that something stops being done/funded in order that something more critical can survive. That is where we are at in local government. We can not pretend there is enough money for everything -- The Legislature took control of that away from County Boards a long time ago.
If the Board will not go to the 11% levy increase we must look at cutting what we are not required to do -- no mater how wonderful the program is -- unless the Board re-allocates funds by cutting other Departments and Services. Just an example -- of the tough decisions they need to make -- should the Historical Society keep getting money or should that money go to continue funding of the Women's Resource Center, Big Brothers/Big Sisters and Winona Volunteer Services? The vocal constituents who will call Commissioners and who have clout will be from the Historical Society. The other agencies in my example do things that will prevent and reduce problems the County will face under the 3rd and 4th criteria above but those client constituents do not have a political voice. Day care providers called commissioners about a fee but the poor working parents getting cut dramatically in day care assistance didn't, (here we are talking $35,000 vs $250,000+). Historical Society supporters and 4H supporters called Commissioners but the mentally ill clients closed for service did not. I hope that the Advisory Committee can help provide a voice for those silent people affected by government's cuts. Craig Brooks _______________________________________________ This message was posted to Winona Online Democracy All messages must be signed by the senders actual name. No commercial solicitations are allowed on this list. To manage your subscription or view the message archives, please visit http://mapnp.mnforum.org/mailman/listinfo/winona Any problems or suggestions can be directed to mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] If you want help on how to contact elected officials, go to the Contact page at http://www.winonaonlinedemocracy.org
