Wisdom is defined as the ability to discern or judge what is true, right or lasting. It is also the use of common sense, good judgment and a wise outlook, plan or course of action. Insanity is the act of doing the same thing over and over and expecting a different result. Wisdom is what built this country; the lack of or unwillingness to use wisdom is the insanity that will bring our failure.

The economy has hit home in our little Ellis County, and the Commissioners Court awaits the 2010-2011 budget to be proposed by the County Judge. We have been told that the county has a $1.4 million deficit this year. What this means is that property values have decreased, new properties are not being added to the tax roles and fines and fees are down. This also means we need to make cuts to balance this budget. The question is do we use non-recurring revenue to pay for recurring expenses or do we cut recurring expenses.

Bureaucracy is the leading cause for inflated governments, and employees make up over 70 percent of the budget. I believe anything, except law enforcement and roads, should be on the table. That would include: reducing staff numbers, reducing benefits, furlough days and reducing non-profit organization funding or any other option that would have a positive effect on future budgets. If each employee in the county took four furlough days per year it would be a recurring expense savings of around $388 thousand. You will hear that services would have to be cut. In reality, this would mean that citizens would just need to be more patient, more responsible and accountable to themselves and their neighbors, especially in civil matters. Remember, the county government is not a city government, and the services that the county provides are generally state mandated. Most all services deal with health and safety.

An example of a recurring expense would be employee payroll or retirement. The county has over 480 employees with an average salary of $41,570.00. The taxpayers of Ellis County are funding retirement benefits to employees at a $2.25 to $1 match. This is an average retirement payment to a retired employee of $885.00 per month. This does not include Social Security or retirement from a previous job. This means for every $1 that an employee pays into retirement, the county taxpayer puts in $2.25 (employees become vested after 8 years of service and can fully retire after 20 years or when age and years of service add up to 75). This is a great retirement package but, in the current economy, should this number change? There is a proposed 25 cent reduction, is that enough? Basically, for every 25 cents that the county reduces its match, there is a recurring expense savings of $225,000 to the budget and taxpayer. Would it be wise for the county to consider cutting more than 25 cents? I will use the following as an example: If the county would reduce its retirement match to 1:1 it would cut a recurring expense by approximately $1.125 million and that would create a positive recurring budget reduction. This is a reduction that would affect all employees, including elected officials. A change at this time would not affect match money that an employee has already earned; it would only affect future matching dollars. I understand this is a very personal and emotional issue to the employees and so the question is should the taxpayer carry the burden by paying higher taxes, or should the employee carry the burden by accepting a decrease in benefits. This type of budget cut would decrease a recurring expense by using recurring revenue. This one is tough and an issue that is very stressful.

The Commissioner’s court should also consider action to require all departments impose an attrition policy to decrease their staff by at least one employee for the 2011-2012 budget. Through attrition, employee staffing numbers would decrease due to retirement or other factors that would cause a position to become vacant. It would also be understood that not all departments are equal and law enforcement is a service that in some occasions could be life or death.

Examples of deficit reduction using non-recurring revenue would be to use $400 thousand dollars from the Road Departments and or the $400 thousand dollars owed by the City of Waxahachie to Ellis County for the property where the new downtown parking garage was built as a balance to the budget deficit. This sounds good and easy, but it is a one-time non-recurring revenue and would not benefit future budgets. These options would be equivalent to borrowing money from a bank to pay off a credit card. The bill is still due, it is just a different creditor. The roads still need to be repaired but they will get worse before they get better.

The money owed by the city should be used to offset the cost of the buildings or used towards the construction of the planned Juvenile Justice Office. We are mandated by the State of Texas, under Chapter 37 of the Texas Education Code, to institute a Juvenile Justice Alternative Education Program that would require classrooms with administrators and teachers.

I know these are tough times and there are options being considered, but are the options being considered going to lessen the burden on the taxpayer and decrease the size of government? Are the options being considered using non-recurring revenue to pay for recurring expenses? I think all options should be on the table and only those options that will have a positive long-term effect for the taxpayers of this county today and tomorrow be considered.

There are many citizens of Ellis County that are unemployed and would love to have a county job. I bet they would be willing to take a job without retirement benefits. This is why we must be very wise in the decision we make concerning the 2010-2011 budget. The decision will be hard and will affect all individuals who are currently employed by the county, elected and non-elected and the tax payers. A decision must not be made just to balance this budget but must consider the budgets of the future. The economy does show some signs of recovery, but we cannot afford to gamble away what we have today dreaming of what may come tomorrow. We must think very hard about using non-recurring revenue to pay for recurring expenses. The effective tax rate for 2010-2011 is .403599 cents, exactly one cent higher than the tax rate of .393599 adopted by the Commissioner’s Court on August 23, 2010. Do we ignore the need to make drastic cuts this year? Do we spend non-recurring revenue to get us by until next year? Do we do as some on the court may recommend for the 2011-2012 budget, raise taxes by two or more cents because we were unwilling to make cuts this year?

I believe it is our duty as elected Republicans and conservatives to make the tough decisions that would cut back on spending and decrease the size of the Ellis County Government and work to lower taxes. We must all stop the entitlement system that has been created over time by politics. We must all demand of ourselves to be more responsible and accountable for our decisions and not automatically look for the government to assist. As elected officials we must demand the size of government be reduced and believe that less is more.

We as Americans must be respectful to our brothers and sisters, as well as accepting accountability to ourselves to ensure that this land remains free for our children and their children’s children. We must live as neighbors not strangers and respect the rights of our neighbors. What a grey world it would be if we were all the same; our differences are what makes this country strong, but it is the respect for a person’s freedom that makes us great.

A constituent made the following statement, “For everything there is a season… it is time to accept the cold, hard realities of a bad economy and stop putting off for some later party to contend with.” So, do we discern what is right and lasting? Do we plan and use a wise course of action? Do we continue to do the same thing over and over again?

These questions will hopefully be answered on September 16, 2010, at 10:00 AM for the public budget hearing on the second floor of the Courthouse. I would ask you to please contact your commissioner or county judge or come to the budget hearing. If you are unwilling to be involved than you must be willing to accept the price. I would like to end by recommending that whether you are a Christian or not, the book of Proverbs is a book everyone should read.

God’s Peace and Wisdom be with you,

Heath Sims