[Winona Online Democracy] Kathy and All, I find no fault with Mandating anything, but where I do find fault is not providing the funds to accomplish the mandate. This is the big problem, not only locally but State and Federal wide. Bob K ----- Original Message ----- From: "Kathy Seifert" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> To: <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> Sent: Thursday, September 25, 2003 4:26 PM Subject: Re: [Winona] budget cuts
> [Winona Online Democracy] > > One way to define "essential" would be services that are mandated by the > legislature to be provided by counties or cities. We could go through a > consensus-building process from there to determine or prioritize services to > be fully funded or partially funded, depending on what priority the > community gives it. > > For example, things like streets, police, water and sewer, courts, hazardous > waste disposal, public health and human services would be essential (the > list is longer than this, I'm sure). Then we could define categories of > other kinds of services that we know are valuable--some might be able to be > supported in part by user fees (e.g., Park Rec already depends on user fees > for shelters, sponsor donations for uniforms, admission to the aquatic > center). Maybe we divide some of the services into categories, depending on > a demographic that utilizes the service (e.g., the Senior Center for older > adults and 4H and DARE for youth). Or there could be categories like health > and wellness (Senior Center), recreation (parks), and culture (Hisorical > Society, Master Gardeners) that citizens choose to support one or all, > depending on what services they value. > > I didn't mean to imply that one would choose to opt out of funding any of > the essentials that they didn't value (e,g, TANF or MFIP may not be popular > with voters, but they are legislated by the state and administered by > counties). But, yes, if I didn't want my discretionary "tax" dollars going > to DARE, I simply would indicate that by designating other programs as > recipients. Another person might wish to support the Historical Society, > but not the WRC. Folks who have no strong preferences could have their > monies go to a general fund to be divided much as is done under the current > system. > > Some programs may not get as much funding as they would under the current > system, but others might get more and it sure would eliminate a lot of the > complaints about taxes not benefitting the taxpayer and eliminate the abuse > of power that happens when an elected official advocates for a pet project > or program. Program administrators could take energy they put into > justifying their existance to the taxpayers and playing politics and use it > to look for creative solutions for support whether it is an increase in user > fees or to apply for grants or fundraise with help from stakeholders or > other supporters. > > As far instability in funding--how less stable could it be than what we're > seeing now? > > Kathy Seifert > ----- Original Message ----- > From: "terri hyle" <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> > To: <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>; <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> > Sent: Wednesday, September 24, 2003 11:32 PM > Subject: Re: [Winona] budget cuts > > > > [Winona Online Democracy] > > > > Kathy, > > > > Your post raises a couple of questions: First of all, how do we define > > 'nonessential services?' I doubt that those of us who are subscribers > would > > all agree on a definition--much less the state at large. Secondly, if I > can > > dedicate a portion of my tax dollars towards certain services which I > > morally support, can I also with hold my tax dollars from those services > > that I morally oppose? > > > > Some of what makes me uncomfortable is that causes that are not cute > enough > > or high enough on our radar will suffer from lack of funding, despite > > genuine need and benefit to society. And, of course, continuity in > programs > > is dependent upon continuity in funding. Too often we don't realize that > a > > program is cut until the cut is put into effect. It is much less > efficient > > and much more expensive to have to solicit funds to restore cuts, or to > > restore services than it is to maintain quality programs through > predictable > > funding. I know that one of the on going problems of school districts in > MN > > is that funding changes from year to year---according to student > > populations, yes, but also according to how well a particular school > > district fits into targeted categories that may shift from year to year. > I > > am amazed at how well school districts do in designing budgets, given the > > constraints they are under. I am mentioning school districts only because > I > > have more familiarity with the funding process/problems faced by districts > > than I do with funding for cities and counties. I am certain that cities > > and counties face similar problems. However, if property taxes are the > > basis for funding, the funding tends to remain stable from year to year > and > > budget cycle to budget cycle---and isn't usually committed to this > category > > of spending or that category as is the case when the state provides > funding. > > > > I like local control/local funding best--but we have to step up to the > plate > > at the local level to make it work. > > > > Terri Hyle > > > http://www.winonaonlinedemocracy.org > > > _______________________________________________ > 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 _______________________________________________ This message was posted to Winona Online Democracy All messages must be signed by the senders actual name. 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