A few years ago, voters enacted a property tax cap, which was intended to limit government spending. At the time the state said, ‘No problem, we’ll help where we can.’
When it comes to corrections, the state Board of Corrections disperses money to the counties to fill the holes created when the actual on-the-ground costs outstrip the limits of the property tax cap.
Now for some reason this year, almost literally, at the last minute – just as state planners were putting the finishing touches on the 2012-2013 biannual budget, they come to the sinking realization there was an accounting error, or a spreadsheet error, or some such thing, so instead of a $3.5 million budget, the request actually totals $9.6 million.
We would like to think there was some sort of sinking realization involved but we don’t actually know, because all the state has told our county officials is that it was a “spreadsheet error,” a $6 million spreadsheet error.
The bottom line is if this money is needed and it is, it will have to come from somewhere. Property tax cap or not, if the state is going to uphold its end of the bargain, state planners will have to find the money somewhere, which means they will have to finagle the money out of schools or roads or some such thing.
If they don’t or won’t find the money, then the counties will have to, which means ultimately, they will turn to the towns.
Either way, anyway – it all rolls down to the door of the property tax payer.
