The Free Press, Mankato, MN

Editorials

November 21, 2009

Our View: Healthy community standards take a hit

As cities, counties and school districts prepare to finalize tax levies and budgets for next year, it appears that at least two dimensions of healthy communities will face declines.

Infrastructure, services and economic opportunity are almost sure to measure lower this year than last. The question community leaders and involved taxpayers must ask is: How low is too low?

Already, we see school districts struggling with their ability to provide decent, well-kept and maintained school buildings and provide educational services at even a level that has been declining for several years. Programs have been cut. From cheerleading to academic pursuits like orchestra and band, programs have been under financial pressure. Debate was saved by parent fundraising.

Neighborhood schools have been closed in Blue Earth, Rice and Brown counties. Waseca is contemplating closing a school. Wells has a school that is falling apart.

Schools are not the only entities struggling with their ability to provide adequate infrastructure and services. Cities, facing millions of dollars of cuts in state aid, have plans to reduce snowplowing schedules, forego hiring an adequate number of police officers and reduce recreational services.

Unfortunately, the goal of having adequate infrastructure and services in a recession tends to run counter to the healthy community goal of economic opportunity. In a recession, incomes are down, and so it’s reasonable to hear from taxpayers who don’t want their taxes to go up. The goal of economic opportunity suggests everyone has a chance to make a decent income.

Anecdotal evidence suggests some taxpayers decry even a 2 percent increase in property taxes and would cut public Christmas decorations instead. More solid evidence shows up in the number of school referendums that failed in this fall’s elections. Whether the stress is “Ebeneezer” economic stress or more concrete economic stress, it seems real enough and makes it all the more difficult for community leaders to try to hold together the goals of economic opportunity and adequate infrastructure and services.

What is the challenge for community leaders when it’s easy to concede to the doom and gloomers?

Community leaders need to leverage the voices of those who see value in investing in services and the actions of those who can come up with creative solutions to define the essential expenses in times of low local government and state revenue growth. We should help amplify the voices of those who voted in favor of their school referendums last year.

The needs are always increasing. It’s not necessarily providing “more help” but the same help to a larger number of people. Essentially, in a recession, we must find leaders who can do more with less or more with the same amount.

And once again, we must decide as a community, how low is too low.

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