Conservative Spending

CONSERVATIVE SPENDING: WHAT IT IS AND WHAT IT ISN’T

WHAT IT IS: You hear the term “fiscal conservative” used so often these days that it has lost its meaning, but I assure you it has one. It means understanding that every dollar of the county budget comes from the pockets of its people. It is not monopoly money, but rather the hard-earned contribution of men and women who deserve to have it spent in a way that respects the effort that went into earning it and the sacrifice that comes from giving it. Frank has learned that the reality of being fiscally conservative sometimes means spending rather than deferring an expenditure that will only get more costly with time. He has learned that being fiscally conservative always means looking ahead and anticipating large expenses so that they can be budgeted over a period of years rather than absorbed all at once. And Frank has learned that the reality of being fiscally conservative sometimes means thinking outside the box. In 2017, Frank and fellow Heath City Councilmen developed and named a budgeting theory called the Equivalency Tax Rate. This theory is based on the concept of fairness and institutes a self-imposed spending cap, meaning if an entity can grow and maintain infrastructure and provide for public health and safety at a certain dollar amount one year, then why shouldn’t that entity be able to provide the same the next year for the same cost? Growth should be funded by itself not those already contributing. When this theory is put to practice, the property tax rate for individuals is adjusted yearly to offset the increase in their appraised property value. The burden on each taxpayer stays consistent. The increase in budget that is required to adapt infrastructure and services to a growing population is funded by the new businesses and homeowners coming in exactly as it should be.

WHAT IT ISN’T: Being fiscally conservative is never giving yourself a 24% raise in one year. Even if the increase was warranted, such a major expenditure could easily have been absorbed over a period of years to allow the county greater flexibility to respond to the COVID crisis. As it is, county agencies were denied money requested for employee merit raises in the two years following that massive expenditure, and the COVID crisis was given as the justification when really, it was good old fashioned reckless spending in a prior year. Our County Judge and Commissioners deserve to be paid fairly just like all our county employees, and that particularly painful expenditure for the people of Rockwall County is a good example of how deferring expenses can hurt. The whole issue could have been avoided with careful budgeting either before or after the fact.

It is also not fiscally conservative to increase the tax burden on existing homeowners by over $1 million dollars in a single year. Lowering the tax rate by pennies, while property values increase by thousands of dollars is hiding behind the smoke screen of lowering taxes while continuing to require those who are already carrying their own weight to carry the weight of others as well. It’s not right, and Frank knows we can do better.