Budget season is here again for the Town of Wickenburg and it should spark interesting debate. The budget takes a long and arduous route through staff, the finance committee, through Council work sessions, and finally to the whole council. Next Monday at 0900 it will have its first hearing at the council budget work session.
While most might think that budget stuff is dull, in fact it is probably one of the most important documents for the town. This is where priorities are set. Last year public safety won big with the council deciding to go to a paid fire department and add to the police department. By spending money in that way there was little left for other priorities.
This year’s first draft again has money allocated to police and fire for more people with most other requests being turned down. There will probably be some rumblings in favor of an increase in the sales tax to meet some of the other requests.
Unfortunately in the halls of government there is little or no discussion on how to save money and operate more efficiently. I honestly believe that most managers want to be efficient and get the most from their people, but unfortunately the system does not reward that. In any bureaucracy if you can justify a larger budget and supervise more people you are deemed to be more important and deserve a greater raise. That system rewards non-efficiency. As a member of the finance committee I can attest to plenty of decisions having been made that are far from efficient.
I urge that people who want to have an influence on how our local government is run should attend Monday’s budget session. See where they set priorities. Watch your government at work.
Art, I delegate all my powers to you for dealing with the city of Wickenburg.
Posted by: james g. Watt | April 21, 2007 at 06:49 AM