Endorsements and editorials are made solely by the ownership of this newspaper. As is the case at most newspapers across the nation, The Spokesman-Review newsroom and its editors are not a part of this endorsement process. (Learn more.)
Editorial: Budgeting could benefit from forward thinking
Spokane County Commissioner Mark Richard and Sheriff Ozzie Knezovich let their emotions boil over at a budget presentation this week. But it’s hard to look with disfavor on either official, one of whom is trying to safeguard the public treasury and the other the public itself.
The public wishes each of them success. But until economic conditions change markedly, both causes must bend a little.
Even so, there are steps that could mitigate the sacrifice – if not right away, at least in the future.
Tuesday’s exchange between Richard and Knezovich focused on whether the sheriff should continue to benefit in 2011 from the 2009 savings he rolled over into his 2010 budget, a point worth debating.
But the Republican sheriff and Democratic county Auditor Vicky Dalton have outlined a more fundamental concern. As independently elected county officials, Knezovich and Dalton want the county to approach budgeting in a more deliberative and forward-thinking manner. Their proposals warrant serious consideration by the county commissioners.
Knezovich and Dalton want a budget plan that covers five years or longer and focuses on funding the county’s most urgent tasks, sometimes known as the priorities-of-government model.
They also want the county to carry through with earlier plans to hire a professional budget director with appropriate experience and skills and the time to devote full attention to the job. If chosen well, they contend, such a hire would pay for itself. Now that commissioners are into the initial phases of developing the 2011 budget, however, bringing a budget director on board is not a practical option.
That shouldn’t prevent commissioners from embracing Knezovich’s and Dalton’s other recommendations, though.
Case in point: Knezovich’s department incurs heavy capital costs – vehicles, computers (including those mounted in patrol cars), bulletproof vests. Such items have predictable lives. Many of his cars have logged thousands more miles than recommended for the punishing service demanded of them. By law, vests must be replaced every five years, and the state has been known to fine municipalities for noncompliance. Yet the sheriff’s budget lacks provision for capital replacement.
As a result, even if Knezovich is budgeted to hire deputies, that’s not much help if he can’t equip them. A more strategic budget approach is in order.
All county agency heads (not to mention taxpayers) deserve a process that begins by identifying essential government operations – now and in coming years – and allots available funds to priority services. Such a process would not erase the recession’s pain, but it would distribute it more reasonably.
Just as important, when the economy does show signs of revival and county departments are clamoring for restoration of lost funds, a disciplined budget strategy will be essential to assure an orderly and fiscally responsible response.