Published: October 31, 2009 08:44 am      

No easy answer to budget woes

"If we don't cut our workforce, I don't think it's too much of a stretch to say that eventually we could bankrupt the county.''

_ Otsego County Rep. Donald Lindberg

There's not a whole lot of things murkier than a government budget, and Otsego County's is no exception.

County Board Chairman James Powers says he thinks the 2010 budget can be whittled enough to prevent layoffs.

``That's something I don't want to do to our people," he said, "especially in a recession.''

Powers was emphatic about something else: ``I can tell you this: we're not going end up with a large tax increase.''

That will be a neat trick, in that after the county's full-board budget workshop sessions, the 2010 tentative budget called for a tax-levy increase of about 30 percent.

Before everybody gets a conniption, we can state without fear of contradiction that residents' taxes will most assuredly not go up by anything close to 30 percent.

It's a common practice by legislative bodies and particularly school boards to come out with an outlandish tax-raising figure, and then settle upon what by comparison seems a very reasonable increase.

It's like the story of the little boy who calls his father at work and says, "Hey Dad, you know that big picture window in the living room?"

The father, fearing the worst, says that he is familiar with it.

"Well," says the clever lad, "I broke the little window next to it."

That's what's going on with the current budget situation in Otsego County. Taxpayers may not be happy with a modest increase, but compared with the initial figure, are unlikely to make a big fuss.

However, it would be a mistake to assume that there are not serious problems to be solved and that jobs are not in jeopardy.

Rep. James Johnson, R-Otsego, chairman of the county's Administration Committee, said the board faces stark choices, as sales tax revenue has declined about 8 percent, or roughly $3 million.

``I think it comes down to pavement or payroll,'' Johnson said. ``Do we want the county to continue to deliver essential services, or do we want to have a jobs program?''

We applaud the belt-tightening moves the county has already announced. A hiring freeze has been initiated, and department heads will not be given a raise in 2010.

Certainly, it's rough on the managers, and some may leave for more-lucrative positions. But in this era of tough financial choices, it's only the first salvo in what is sure to be a battle of services vs. jobs vs. taxes in Otsego County.