Fiscal Responsibility for Larimer County!
Fundamentally, budgeting is about setting priorities. High priorities must be funded first. Unfortunately, in our current economic climate it may be necessary to reduce, delay, or even eliminate low priority expenses. Public safety and roads remain very important for our citizens.
Fort Collins used to have the best funded police department in the region. Now it is Loveland. If you follow the sales tax dollars you will see why. Tax revenue always follows a vibrant, healthy economy.
Transparency and openness are essential. Citizens should be able to quickly and easily identify where and for what purpose money is being spent. Sunshine is a great disinfectant.
Activities that are measured get done.
Departments and managers should be rewarded for identifying and implementing new processes that reduce expenses.
Procedures such as the “use it or lose it” approach currently in place encourage waste and must be eliminated.
What can appear in the short term as a cost cutting measure can increase expenses over the long haul. Road maintenance is a good example. In the 2008 County budget, road maintenance was very nearly eliminated. Our county roads and bridges require upkeep. If we do not perform this maintenance, we will soon have to replace them. That is much more expensive in the long run.
Tax Increment Financing plans must consider impact on County services. Taxes withheld from the County should be reduced to reflect increased demand for services generated by any TIF-funded project.