It’s that time of year again — kids out of school, the vacation you saved up for (or not, in this economy), the sweltering heat of the Southern summer at Erlanger Park. But it’s also budget season, when local governments decide what and who are worth investment from taxpayers.
The Hamilton County Commission has already approved its funding for the next fiscal year — the standard austerity-driven budget you get from a Republican majority — and now it’s the Chattanooga City Council’s turn.
The proposed budget from city Mayor Tim Kelly doesn’t share the supposedly efficiency-minded cuts in services in County Mayor Weston Wamp’s budget. But where the city has decided to direct money — and not — illustrates an all-too-common issue within local government: misplaced priorities.
(IN THE NEWS: Chattanooga City Council passes first vote on Kelly’s proposed budget)
To be sure, the city’s proposed budget, passed by a unanimous first vote this week, does maintain some key funding while avoiding a tax increase, unlike last year’s budget that raised the property tax rate to fund needed pay increases for police and fire employees.