Editorial - January 2003

No-tax pledge may be difficult to keep

January 27, 2003 - It’s an easy promise for any politician to make: No tax increase. It’s also fashionable, particularly among GOP candidates.

Two newly elected commissioners, Carrol Mitchem and James “Buddy” Funderburk, apparently are making that promise. Mitchem has signed a pledge from the watchdog group Citizens for Sound Economy, and Funderburk has indicated that he will also sign.

Of course it sounds good to tax-paying voters, but it’s rather presumptive of any elected official to make such a pledge without first becoming knowledgeable of the budget process and the expenses that may or may not lie ahead.  In fact, it seems a bit fool-hardy at a time when local government has been losing some of its revenues and the need for increased school funding looms.

 Mitchem and Funderburk should check with two of their colleagues, Tom Anderson and Larry Craig, both of whom made a similar pledge but later determined they would have to back off because of the financial plight facing the county in 2001. At the state level, former Rep. Dan Barefoot signed such a pledge but later had a change of heart because of the financial plight of the state.

Voters do appreciate elected officials who look for ways to save taxpayer money, and to that end Mitchem and Funderburk should be commended, if they succeed.  The question remains, will they find any wasted expenditures? If not, are they forced to keep their pledge at the expense of needed county funding? Citizen reaction could turn out just as bad, if not worse, than a tax hike.

 Any elected official can work hard for fiscal restraint, hoping to keep taxes down. That’s what Mitchem and  Funderburk should do. Most politicians already know the folly of the  “read my lips: no new taxes” posture.

© 2001 Lincoln Times-News  

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