Daily Herald editorial

Commissioner Jerry Reinartz was on the right track this week when he suggested that the county forego a tax levy increase this year and, instead, make up any shortfalls from reserves. Although Reinartz’s plan didn’t get enough traction to win board approval, his position at least helped nudged the board toward a more moderate increase than some commissioners had envisioned. More importantly, Reinartz’s proposal raised an important point about the role of government reserve funds.

Every organization likes to have a cash reserve in case some unexpected expense arises. But the benefits of a reserve must be weighed against allowing taxpayers to keep more dollars for themselves to invest or spend as they see fit. Most taxpayers thus would probably prefer a small reserve to a large one, because government reserves come right out of the taxpayers’ pockets.

It does make sense for an organization as large as Mower County to have some financial reserves. It also makes sense that the reserve be kept to a minimum, because in a multi-million-dollar budget, there is always a way to find funds to deal with unexpected expenses, even if some of those ways might mean hard choices. Again, the choice for commissioners is whether to let taxpayers keep their dollars as long as possible, or to have the government hold them.

It was not clear from the commissioners’ discussion on Tuesday just what impact the 4.5 percent levy increase they approved will have on reserves or services. It was clear that the commissioners thought hard about the need for a tax increase and chose a course that, while perhaps not ideal, showed at least some basic respect for their constituents’ wallets.