Tax news isn't all good

To all you Kootenai County entities intent on not raising citizens' property taxes, the silent, distracted masses probably appreciate it.

But if they were paying attention, they'd want you to do more.

Granted, doing the government's business rarely leads to high praise or garlands of gratitude. If you work for the government, your rewards generally come from job security and good benefits, not from public adoration.

But as we are prone to note around this time most years, holding firm against raising people's taxes just isn't good enough.

Clearly, in times of hardship, cuts should be made in government equal to or greater than those in the private sector. It's not just the fiscally responsible thing to do; when almost every taxpayer is hurting, helping them by slightly reducing their bureaucratic burden can be morally fulfilling.

Now what about times like these, when the economy is jogging right along - not sprinting, exactly, but heading in the right direction at a healthy clip? Deciding to not raise taxes is simply not enough, and here's why.

Taxing entities this year are taking in something of a windfall from new-growth revenues in the millions of dollars. That's a benefit of any economic upswing; not only do property values go up, but new construction generates wheelbarrows full of additional tax dollars. Public officials suddenly have access to more money if they want it, but that's an option, not an ultimatum.

We maintain that in good times as well as bad, officials holding the key to a treasure vault that actually belongs to taxpayers should do everything possible to adopt a budget lower than the previous year's and assure a tax cut for Ma and Pa Homeowner. If that's not tenable, adopting a budget equal to the previous year's would, in many cases, still create relief for taxpayers because new construction revenues could offset homeowners' property taxes.

Sadly, many public servants just don't think that way. Nor, to be fair, does the average citizen. When Americans get a little more, they tend to spend a little more. In some cases, they get a little more and spend a lot more.

Budget crafters and overseers should always take just a little better care of their customers than they do their employees. Start with the goal of cutting taxes in mind and, believe it or not, you can get there.