OFF BEAT
ROBERT L. SPINKS, MA, MS
COMMENTATOR
A New Metropolitan Parks & Recreation District for Sequim? Published on Wed, Sept 15, 2010 by Robert Spinks, MA, MS http://www.sequimgazette.com/spinks
Downsizing government is not just a political slogan often trumpeted by the energized Tea Party across the country. It is becoming a reality driven by declining tax revenues that is facing government at all levels. The sad reality is that holding the line on government spending does not mean keeping the status quo either; it means cutting services and jobs.
A third option was to look at a citizen votedin junior taxing district.
If Union contracts require cost of living and step raises, if medical insurance rates grow at double digit rates as they may and if the cost of fuel, supplies and services rise faster than tax collections, then government will be forced to cut. At a recent Noon Rotary Club meeting, Sequim City Manager Steve Burkett reported that initial estimates for the City‟s 2011 budget forecast a $400,000 short fall.
At the Sequim City Council meeting on June 28th, there was discussion on “evaluating options to improve parks and recreation services.” That discussion included expanding parks and recreation services and a status quo option as well as expanding a City program which would entail adding staff and fees and competing for a larger portion of the general fund budget.
If there is anything good about the current recession it is the pressure it places on local government to redefine its roll. Government trying to cut costs is somewhat of a foreign language because every program and every service has some type of constituent base. We can all debate what is or isn‟t a „core service‟ of government. Police, fire, water, and sewer – we could probably agree that those are core services. The finance folks at City Hall, just like in private business are
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