Budget wonkery

A few random thoughts about the budget worksheet (.pdf file) handed out at the County Commission budget workshop this week:

We were budgeting over $160,000 for "out of county travel?" Where were these people going? Good on them for cutting that expense. Also $9,990 for seminars and "meals, plaques and ceremonies" for the BCC. Did anyone know they had budgeted for this crap in the past? Well, I didn't.

$700 for the County Administrator's Blackberry actually doesn't seem all that high to me. If it makes him more efficient, I don't really have a problem with him keeping that.

The county attorney has chopped $100,000 out of their budget for outside counsel. I'm curious if there is anything left in that budget item.

What the hell is the "Merit System Protection Board?"

We were paying a federal lobbyist $67,500? My first reaction is, "well THAT was dumb," but, on second thought, I'm not so sure...

Facilities management looks to take a pretty big hit, with $865,000 proposed to be cut from their budget, including the entire construction crew.

I hate the idea of eliminating funding for the school nursing program. Yes, it is a $120,000 savings, but considering how little we allocate toward healthcare in this county, eliminating one of the few sources of healthcare for our children seems short sighted. And in view of the overall budget, $120K doesn't seem like all that much.

I hope that the commissioners follow through with the idea of returning Lakeview and the community clinics to full funding. (Actually, I hope they can find a way to INCREASE funding for these items).

Overall it looks like the commission is working hard to "tighten their belts" with these budget cuts. It's a painful process. I hope we see some good results.

Now, how about those proposals for combining redundant city and county operations? We could save a TON more money there if we could agree to do it.