Smaller government and lower taxes.

According to polls and recent elections, that’s what a majority of Americans want. When we get it, however, it is always somewhat shocking. All that cutting is not free. In fact, we will pay a high price for it.

The budget crisis now facing the state of North Carolina is a prime example.

The state is now estimating it will have a shortfall of nearly $850 million. The slowing economy has led to lower than projected tax collections; Hurricane Floyd relief efforts drained savings; a lawsuit over federal retiree tax withholdings cost hundreds of millions; and rising Medicaid costs are sucking millions more than expected. Roll it all together and you come up with one big imposing mess.

Local governments are already sweating it out. Reimbursements from the state have been held up. As budget season draws near, many are beginning to fear that money simply won’t be there. Promises made last year, based on expected state revenues, will likely be broken. The game has changed.

Public schools will be in dire straits. Utility costs have skyrocketed. They will have to match state-mandated pay raises for the locally paid teachers. A teaching shortage is forcing many systems to offer expensive incentives and supplements to attract quality teachers. At the same time that getting good teachers is about to become more difficult, keeping test scores high is also becoming more important.

These proposed cuts will also cause severe problems for our universities. In addition to reducing teaching faculty and subsequently some courses, Western Carolina University may have to stop offering almost all of its public outreach programming. On June 30 of this year, a budget writer’s pen could kill the The Mountain Heritage Center, Western North Carolina Tomorrow, The Mountain Resource Center and the Highlands Biological Station. Government officials, non-profit organizations and the communities in these western counties will suffer. Teacher training programs at the N.C. Center for the Advancement of Teaching will be reduced, which ultimately means our public schools won’t be as effective.

It may not be a doom-and-gloom scenario, but for many organizations and individuals things are about to change. For the last decade, talk of reducing government and holding the line on taxes has become a popular political philosophy in and of itself. Now, because of unforeseen circumstances in North Carolina, that philosophy will be put to the test. The human side of these reductions is about to come home to roost.

Everyone knows that government often wastes money and lacks efficiency. But it also beneficially serves people by helping communities create jobs, providing health and human services for those in need, and preparing students for the future. The future may not hold as much promise for as many people and communities.

 

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The Smoky Mountain News