EDITORIAL: Barrow seeks to weather financial storm

Barrow County is one of many governments caught in this financial downturn.

To its credit, Barrow is putting all options on the table for debate in an effort to stem the flow of red ink that appears likely in the coming year.

Just one month into its FY09 budget, Barrow is projecting a $1.9 million shortfall in revenues if the current trends continue. In addition, if the current projections are accurate, the county will have to eat $944,000 of its reserves during the coming fiscal year.
This downturn is hitting with “perfect-storm” intensity. For one thing, growth brings additional costs, but the true depth of those costs lags the revenue stream. As new people moved into Barrow County over the last eight years, their fees and taxes flowed into local governments ahead of the real cost. That created a skewed financial picture where local governments were, to an extent, living off the cash flow before the real costs hit their budgets.

Now the real long-term costs from the last few years of growth are on the upswing at the same time new revenues and fees are diving downward.

The real issue, however, isn’t just how local governments got into this mess, but how they plan to get out of it. To a large extent, that game plan depends on the attitude of government leaders. Some government officials think it’s their duty to “protect” government employees no matter what the larger economy is doing and consequently, they hesitate to consider any kind of cutbacks.

Barrow County leaders appear to have a more realistic attitude and are discussing all possible options, including staff cuts, shorter work weeks, furloughs, decreased government vehicle use, and other cuts that just a few months ago seemed impossible.
It remains to be seen where and how Barrow County will make cutbacks as it looks to survive the economic downturn. No doubt some tough decisions are looming, decisions that are bound to be difficult.

But by putting all options for cutting back on the table, Barrow County has taken the right first step in attempting to weather the financial storm it faces.