Local Governments are Victims?

The WayneWho staff has noticed a theme that continues to pop up once in awhile on other blog sites that we don't particularly agree with. It is a common theme that we hear week after week from our local governments as well. The idea is that local governments are just victims and it is not their fault that things in this community have gotten so bad. Not true. Local governments are directly responsible for how and why things are so bad in our local community and this should not be forgotten. Our local leadership failed us.

While we agree 100% that the blame for our current national economic problems are outside of the scope of our local governments and that because of these issues local governments are finding times much tougher, it does not explain our complete local economic picture. Our local housing crisis was made worse by the actions of our local governments. Adopting the ponzi-scheme mentality of using impact fees to pay for all our our needs, forever, has left us with no money or the infrastructure that was supposed to be built. Developing a taxpayer funded "economic development" program instead of creating the infrastructure sought by so many companies, has left us with few jobs and even less revenue. And of course we have our own developer wannabe politicians to thank for the disastrous affects of the "Build-Baby-Build" mentality that has left us with little to no value in our housing markets. These are areas that our governments screwed up all on their own and can not be explained away because the price of Aspirin has gone up. We are in trouble because of bad local policies.

The trick that seems to be trying to be played is confusing national economic problems with local policies. While we do agree to some extent that the "blame" for our national condition rests with everyone because of reckless consumptive practices, locally the argument does not hold water. The WayneWho staff believes that it is wrong to blame the voters for everything that has, and is, happening. In Osceola County, voters have time and time again voted for people who promised to control growth. The promises have been in the newspapers, on campaign pieces, and told to us directly at debates. Yet we have watched those promises evaporate as the campaign contributions find their way into the pockets of those who made them. While it is easy to act like the public has sat back and done nothing, we have watched, meeting after meeting, where the public cries to stop a development have been listened to with deaf ears. The public's fault? We think not.

When we look at the present day arguments about having to raise taxes and fees to pay for government services, we have to wonder about all the promises that were made to cut-the-fat. It was only when government was faced with an emergency cash shortfall because of years of deficit spending that the promised cuts began. Up until that point government had only gotten bigger and more costly. Did the voters vote for bigger government? No. Season after season the voters responded to candidates that promised to cut-the-fat, but like so many of the campaign promises we vote on, it never happened.

Where does that leave our community? The taxpayers are going to have to pay for the mistakes of local government as well as the problems created by a faltering national economy. We are going to get the double whammy. Once again local governments are going to simply enjoy the easy use of their taxpayer supported debit cards by making some quick withdrawals at their local "Automatic Tax Machines" (ATM's) instead of doing their homework and making the cuts they have been asked to make. Raising taxes is not a difficult decision. Making the necessary cuts is what is difficult and until our local governments can show that they have done that, the issue of raising taxes and fees should be off the table. If not, then the only victims are the residents of our community.