Planning ahead is board’s job

Bill Louis Long Albemarle County
Published: May 4, 2008

In explaining her support for a 71-cent real estate tax rate (“Mallek’s approach becomes clearer,” The Daily Progress, April 26), Albe-marle County Supervisor Ann Mallek decided to hold on for the extra penny, which would be placed in a lock box for future economic downturns, because not ha-ving more money in county coffers to deal with decreasing revenue forecasts would have been irresponsible.

What is really irresponsible is for the board to have failed to set aside funds during time of economic prosperity for use when the economy heads south.

Many of us have lived good lives by adhering to the rather corny aphorism “Save something for a rainy day.” This is often difficult, for families, businesses and especially for government. For government officials in particular, it requires in-sight, commitment and (most of all) courage to confront the black holes in the American body politic that will attempt to suck in every last dollar that the printing presses, and the tax papers, will produce (with educational institutions a prime example).

In that regard, the Board of Supervisors’ imagery of a lock box to hold the “extra” penny is not reassuring. What the supervisors perceive as an innocent penny is actually a surrogate for hundreds of dollars in additional taxes for many Albemarle citizens.