Loudoun County budget officers dipped into public school reserves to help fill a $28 million revenue shortfall this week, surprising the School Board, which was saving money for the lean years expected ahead.I'll let the newspapers explain the facts of the situation to you. As you can see from some of the quotes, there have been some hard feelings. In my opinion, the current financial crisis is too important for public officials to engage in public name-calling.
While last year's budget process was no fun, it was organized and sane in a way that it has never been before. The fiscal guidance and tiered budget options gave elected officials and engaged citizens the opportunity to know the impact of various scenarios. The process gave voters an opportunity to see what their representatives think is most important. Regular joint meetings of the two Boards led to better communications and less acrimony. The outcome of decisions was predictable and that improved trust.
This year's budget squeeze will be much worse than last year. Accordingly, we need that sane process and good communication even more this year, when the choices will be even more painful. Good communication and trust is hard to come by when one-upsmanship is valued more than good boardsmanship. I learned that in years past, when I fought hard to point out on this blog where I was right and Supervisors were wrong.
I don't mind telling people exactly what I think, and I have expressed my opinion on this week's transfer privately and emphatically to quite a number of people. But folks in our community (students, constituents, teachers, taxpayers, voters & citizens) don't care about the turf wars or the personality conflicts. They don't care in which ledger their tax dollar was logged or who gets credit. They just want it well taken care of, spent efficiently to deliver quality schools to their kids and services to us all. They deserve that.
Here's hoping that in the months ahead we can focus on what's most important.
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