Local government budgets may seem like inconsequential ledgers with no discernible effect on the ordinary person. But how we raise public funds and what we do with those tax dollars are markers of what we think is worth investment and who we think deserves a dignified life.
On Wednesday, the Hamilton County Commission passed its $1.1 billion budget for the upcoming fiscal year, making the county’s priorities clear. This near-1,000-page document shows our elected leaders value the relatively wealthy over the working poor and prioritize deporting our Latino neighbors over adequately funding public education.
The budget reveals an all-too-common trope of Republican rule: a supposed small-government agenda that cuts public services and boosts funding for heavy-handed law enforcement, all under the guise of protecting working taxpayers from overreach.
“Despite inflationary pressures, we have maintained the county’s lowest property tax rate since 1941 while making significant investments in county roads, public safety, education, and responsible growth,” Republican County Mayor Weston Wamp said in a statement following the commission’s near-unanimous approval of the budget.