Smyrna’s town budget for 2010 will soon be up for approval by the Town Council. During this time of financial uncertainty, the mindset of Town Council and Finance Committee members and of town staff should be of particular concern to taxpayers.
The question that I pose is this, “With private businesses forced to layoff employees, reduce pay and benefits and take other drastic cost-cutting actions in order to remain in business, why should government bureaucrats and employees be exempt from the same requirements?”
Are taxpayers to believe that government manpower levels are such that they can not be reduced? Are pay and benefits for government employees so low that they can not survive without an increase in pay and benefits? Is government so efficient that further cost-cutting actions are impossible?
Mayor Stombaugh, in answer to what she believes should be done, is quoted as saying, “Cut, cut, cut.” On the other hand, certain Finance Committee members and Town Manager Hugg are saying that, “We can't cut our way out of this.”
I support the mayor’s point of view. And with few exceptions, I believe that so do most taxpayers.
Let the town do what other businesses have done. Let’s cut or eliminate wage and benefit increases. Let’s cut government waste and unnecessary expenses. And if that is not enough, let’s cut government manpower. After all, it was neither taxpayers nor businesses that got us into this financial mess. It was the over-spending and bungling ineptness of many of our national and state political leaders. Unfortunately, some of that misguided mindset also permeates a portion our local town leadership. Townspeople are all-too-aware of past over-spending and mismanagement of town finances.
Town leaders would do well to remember that they are in office in order to serve the best interests of the public at-large – and that confiscating more private money through increases in taxes or fees or charges – from taxpayers who are on fixed incomes, or out of work or just really struggling – is certainly NOT in the public’s best interests.
Any councilperson who would vote to place the welfare of government bureaucracy over that of ordinary taxpayers is, in my opinion, unfit for office.
