IT’S NOT ALTOGETHER bad, having to make do with less.
Because government revenue is down, policy-makers at every level have no choice but to scramble for savings.
Federal deficits are in the trillions. States are billions of dollars in the hole. Counties, cities and other local government entities are coming up short by the thousands or millions.
Washington state legislators, who thought they balanced the fiscal year 2010 budget during a March special session, will be back in Olympia on Saturday to delete some previously approved spending to mend a $1.1 billion budgetary hole.
The incoming Legislature faces an additional shortfall, projected at $5.7 billion, for fiscal year 2011.
“We have to figure out more cost-effective ways to do things, to continue to get the work done with less resources,” state Sen. Jim Hargrove, D-Hoquiam, observed recently.
That’s not a bad thing, but it won’t be easy to make the right cuts and avoid the wrong cuts.
For example, social services that appear to reward bad behavior often lead the list of suggested cuts. However, those services may actually enable good behavior, which saves the public money and makes communities safer.
As Hargrove noted, “Evidence shows recidivism really drops if you give an offender a community college education, but [the general public] tends to view that negatively, as a reward for bad behavior.”
Figuring out more cost-effective ways to do things is always good, both in the public policy arena and when managing personal finances, but it is especially challenging when dealing with tax dollars.
Noting public sector agonizing over budget cuts of 2 percent or 3 percent, one Port Angeles Realtor said his revenue is down by double-digit percentages.
“We adjust,” he said, with a shrug.
Personal debt is down and savings are up, according to financial analysts, indicating that people are adjusting to reduced personal revenue by simply not spending.
“On a personal level, that’s good,” Hargrove quipped, “but it’s bad for tax collections.”
It is harder for government to adjust.
Even tiny percentages add up to huge dollar amounts and every proposed cut is met with howls of protest from people who don’t seem able to grasp the concept of government not having money to disburse.
Still, if it takes tight finances to teach us what’s really essential, then economy-wide revenue shortfalls are not entirely bad.
The recession is having some bad effects, to be sure — notably a significant drop in charitable contributions, coupled with a significant increase in needs.
On the other hand, giving in the form of volunteering time and talents is up and cash donations are increasingly directed to more serious needs.
Working in the administrative offices of Serenity House, I recall past years when numerous groups and individuals stepped up to generously provide Christmas for homeless families.
In those days, some children received piles of presents rivaling a “Dennis the Menace” comic strip, from givers who said they wanted the “fun of shopping” for a child.
This year, each child and each parent will receive something, but Christmas provisions will be more modest, a lead case manager said.
That’s not a bad thing.
Givers seem more in tune with Thursday’s “Seen Around” comment on Page A2 about Christmases past: “I remember good times that didn’t cost a lot.”
Instead of aiming to provide a sparkling holiday, givers seem more focused on giving that will make a real difference in the recipients’ life.
And that’s definitely not a bad thing.
Someone recently drew my attention to an unattributed quote: “The richest person is not the one who has the most, but the one who needs the least.”
Are your needs met?
Are your wants few?
Are you able to splurge by sending an extra gift to a cause or causes you deem worthy?
Adjusting to recognizing that you’re richly blessed is definitely good.
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Martha M. Ireland was a Clallam County commissioner from 1996 through 1999.
She is on the administrative staff of Serenity of House of Clallam County, co-owns a Carlsborg-area farm with her husband, Dale, and is active in the local Republican Party, among other community endeavors.
Her column appears every Friday. E-mail: irelands@olypen.com.