Walker Co.: Passing The Burden To The Next Generation

It's like watching a guy learning to play the cello in front of a full audience.

Elliot Pierce

Sep 11, 2022

Contents:

What They Did

The Walker County Board of Commissioners held their last public hearing and millage rate setting meeting on September 1. The public hearings were contentious at times since the county was seeking a tax hike, with a number of residents voicing passionate opposition. Others made heartfelt appeals to the commissioners not to raise their taxes.

Chairman Whitfield presented millage rates that were slightly lower than those originally requested. This was turned down. Instead, three district commissioners appear to have formed a coalition to seek millage rates that are extremely close to the rollback rate, resulting in less revenue for county government. It was approved.

Citizens rejoice! With that, hosannas and cheers for the commissioners could be heard from all around Walker County. All the public hearings' rage, hostility, and emotion vanished away. All was well in Walker County again.

Unfortunately, nothing could be farther from the reality. This action by the District Commissioners exemplified a lack of leadership and forethought rarely seen in government.

First Issue: Deferred Costs

County commissioners should look at the big picture. Their primary responsibility is legislative, which necessitates long-term thinking. This was completely abandoned when they failed to evaluate the consequences of income loss. Consider capital asset maintenance and renewal, which includes road replacement, vehicle maintenance and replacement, facility repairs and improvements, and so on. When budgets are squeezed, it is generally this area that suffers the most since it is a cut that can be made without laying off employees. This may be the only spot that can be cut in Walker County.

Numerous studies suggest that this is disastrous for governments. The reason behind this is that when funds are not available for critical capital maintenance or replacement, it is postponed until funds become available. This means that whenever deferred expenditures are funded, the asset's condition has progressed past the ideal and most cost-effective moment at which it should have occurred, resulting in a higher cost. Several studies of this postponed activity demonstrate that every dollar saved costs $3-$7 when the deferred action is finally executed. In other words a repair that costs $1,000 today will cost $3,000-$7,000 because it is put off to another day.

Consider a road that is in poor condition and in desperate need of repaving right now, but there is no money for it, so the roads department repairs the potholes as best they can each year until the road is funded a few years later. Unfortunately, the road is in dire condition at that point, and routine repaving is insufficient. The price rises dramatically.

The government finance officers group even compares the additional cost of deferred maintenance and renewal to a debt that future generations will have to pay.

The district commissioners' decision seems like it was plucked from a hat full of terrible budgetary plans from the Heiskell administration's worst days. It fits well with the causes of the disastrous condition Walker County was in in 2016.

Commissioner Heiskell’s fundamental failure can be traced to a series of proposed property tax increases she knew were necessary but year after year reduced or did not enact. The similarity to the current situation is striking.

Second Issue: Moral Hazard

Walker County voters approved a one-percentage-point sales tax in 2017 to help fund local government transportation. Walker County has been able to pave more than 120 of its 700+ miles of road since the tax began.

The subject of whether to maintain the TSPLOST was on the ballot in the May 24th spring primary. Voters rejected the TSPLOST, continuing the long history of bad judgments connected with majority rule. This means that the county will no longer have the millions of dollars in TSPLOST revenue to support the lion's share of capital asset upkeep and renewal, such as roads, public works, and transit.

Instead, the county must rely on property tax revenue, base sales tax revenue, and a little state funding to do what they can, but replacing TSPLOST revenue is impossible. As a result, many county roads will go unmaintained, and when they are eventually paved, it will be at a greater expense.

When the district commissioners agreed to cut the millage rate in response to public outcry and pleadings, they effectively insulated voters from the repercussions of voting against TSPLOST. This establishes a moral hazard in which individuals are spared the consequences of a behavior or action and hence more likely to repeat it because no negative repercussions were felt the prior time.

TSPLOST lessened the burden of property taxes. Studies have shown that for every dollar of sales tax revenue received by Georgia counties, property owners save between .25 and.45 cents in property taxes not levied. Yet voters rejected it and then sought to reject a property tax increase. The way for voters to recognize the facts is for them to feel the repercussions of their votes.

All the commissioners did was create a moral hazard, postpone the inevitable tax increase, and increase local burdens on future generations. They did nothing to address the perennial property tax burden faced by fixed and low income households. Their action was right out of the script of the generation responsible for the bulk of our obscene national debt: the baby boomers.

What They Ought To Have Done

Congressman Henry Hyde used to greet all new members of Congress, he would stress the need of knowing one's own values and the causes for which one was willing to risk being ousted from office. Otherwise, they would do substantial damage.

A property tax hike would have been controversial, but it would have been wise. It is not a commissioner’s duty to be popular. Bowing to sincere but misinformed folks is not a smart approach to republican government. In truth, it is a spineless and irresponsible method of governing.

Consider the period from 2017 to 2019, when then-sole commissioner Shannon Whitfield confronted the difficult challenges that we all recall well. In his first three years, he made more controversial but wise judgments than most elected leaders make in double the time. Even as his harshest critic, I feel confident in saying that he exemplified true leadership by being able to make controversial decisions and stick by them because he was convinced they were in the county's best interest over the long haul.

They should have made the unpopular but wise choice. It would have been in the best interests of the county in the long and short term.

The Story Doesn't End There, Though.

They have been in power since January 2021. What have they done in that period to address the size and scope of government, and hence the government's revenue needs? After all, they are all self-described conservatives. Unfortunately, they have no track record in this regard. Instead, they passed practically every resolution that came before them, bought millions of dollars' worth of mowing equipment, and enacted few or no financial governance or transparency policies.

They made a deliberate decision to not try to rein in local government. They could have privatized government activities that the government does poorly and inefficiently compared to the private sector. Mowing was an obvious choice for this in Walker County. Nobody is thrilled with the county's mowing service, and it makes no sense for the government to spend millions of dollars on equipment that is only used for a little more than half of the year. When this proposal of privatization was first floated in the newspaper, the commissioners said nothing.

So, they could have taken steps to cut government costs, which would have made a property tax increase less likely or even unnecessary in the first place. However, given that they did not, the very least they could have done is to not create moral hazard or add to the financial strain on future generations.

Too often, the performance of some Walker County commissioners resembles that of a random guy learning to play the cello in front of a full audience.

Elliot Pierce: Walker County Board of Commissioners not living up to expectations

To be clear, I have the highest respect for the commissioners personally. My critique is of their performance as commissioners.

Finally, the concern about property taxes for seniors and low or fixed income households is a serious issue. It is something that can be addressed with a variety of approaches. The county needs to explore them, quickly. Their decision did nothing to address the issue for seniors and fixed income households long term.