It’s fun to watch my children when they get money for their birthdays.
They twirl the bills around in their fingers, they stare slowly at the front of the paper, then turn it to take in every feature on the back. They put them down on the table and walk away only to return moments later, as if they could somehow lose ownership or control if the distance becomes too great.
And, more than anything else, they have the urge to spend.
“C’mon, Dad, can we go to the store now?”
“No”
“How about now?”
“NO. Why don’t you try to save your money for once.”
“Aaaahhhhhh!”
That scene plays over in my head as I watch members of Erie County Council creep ever closer to using windfall gaming revenue to balance the 2008 budget.
The money comes from proceeds from Presque Isle Downs and Casino, some 11 million dollars a year for the next decade. It’s money that is supposed to be set aside for “transformational” projects, high impact, tangible assets that couldn’t be funded through normal means.
Yet Council members are considering using some of the gaming funds to downsize an operational tax increase to a quarter-mil, or about 26 dollars per $100,000 Erie County home.
Just like my kids, the hands of Council seem unable to stop in their attempts to close in on the cookie jar.
Council needs no better example than Erie City coffers, where years of dipping into savings depleted extra revenue and left the city teetering on the brink of state receivership.
Mayor Joe Sinnott argues that reasonable uses of surplus funds are necessary or else government bodies would tax every year to make up for cost of living increases.
And that’s a good point.
But you and I both know what happens if we raid our savings account every month to pay the bills.
Sooner or later Mother Hubbard is at the door.
County Council could argue that using gaming money to fund operational expenses is acceptable for something like the library system that could reasonably expect gaming funds anyway.
But somebody has to be the adult to keep my kids from blowing every penny they have.
Similarly, somebody needs to step up and make Council resist the temptation that big pot of cash represents, to make sure that “transformational” funds really transform the community instead of maintaining the status quo.
Don’t do it!
UPDATE! Tuesday night four members of Council pushed through a plan to use $1.3 million dollars of gaming funds AND raise taxes to balance the budget.
Yea and my kids don’t listen to me either!