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Our economy is in either a recession or a depression. Regardless of which term applies, it appears that some elected officials are willing and even eager to incur massive public debt and liability now in an effort to obligate our way out of the recession/depression. The idea is hardly new even in Idaho. Over 90 years ago, a wise Judge Dietrich penned these words of wisdom when referring to the Idaho Constitution, Article 8, Section 3.
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The Idaho Constitution is imbued with the spirit of economy, and in so far as possible it imposes upon the political subdivisions of the state a pay-as-you-go system of finance. The rule is that, without the express assent of the qualified electors, municipal officers are not to incur debts for which they have not funds to pay. Such policy entails a measure of crudity and inefficiency in local government, but doubtless the men who drafted the Constitution, having in mind disastrous examples of optimism and extravagance on the part of public officials, thought best to sacrifice a measure of efficiency for a degree of safety. The careful, thrifty citizen sometimes gets along with a crude instrumentality until he is able to purchase and pay for something better. And likewise, under the Constitution, county officers must use the means they have for making fair and equitable assessments until they are able to pay for something more efficient, or obtain the consent of those in whose interests they are supposed to act.
Dexter Horton T. & Sav. Bank v. Clearwater County (D.C.), 235 F. 743, 51 Idaho at 505, 6 P.2d at 476.
Judge Dietrich’s words require no clarification or elaboration. They are as appropriate now just as certainly as when the case was decided.
Would anyone care to comment and identify some of our own local “…disastrous examples of optimism and extravagance on the part of public officials…?”
Excellent point, Bill! I’ll let others go first, but I’m forming a list in my head for later…
Comment by mary — January 31, 2010 @ 10:30 am
The cruelest insult to the taxpayer has to be the authors of our urban renewal law. LCDC, our local urban renewal agency, is merely the executioner who derive their authority from the city council whom the legislature empowered with the l998 URA law. Shame on all of them. The law allows bonding, but has not been used locally because the law is so liberal that our local executioners don’t need to use it. How is this? The law that created them also gave them, an unelected board appointed by the city mayor and council, access to property taxes which now totals over $17 million since its creation in l998. Some of it has been used to lure investment for growth of dubious merit and a good chunk of it just given away as gifts to developers and others allegedly to do do good things for the community. No wonder recent campaign signs said, “Let’s Take Back Our City”.
Comment by Gary Ingram — January 31, 2010 @ 11:10 am