Example of Inefficient Government Spending...

...in our school systems. I know, big surprise, but here is a prime example of why this country is in the financial mess we're currently in.

During a Q&A at the Newton County School Board meeting, Superintendent Dr. Whatley was asked why it was allowable for Newton County Schools to spend $1M (one million dollars) on a block of land for a new elementary school when it is having to furlough (mandatory day off without pay) it's teachers, looking at additional furlough days, and cannot afford substitute teachers. His answer...

"The money for the purchase of land comes from SPLOST and can only be spent for construction, renovation, technology, buses, land purchase and other related items. It cannot be used for salaries or general fund expenditures as has been stated previously in answers to teacher forum questions."

In case you don't know what SPLOST is, it's the acronym for Special-Purpose Local-Option Sales Tax. In any Georgia county, the county commission can levy this tax to fund the building and/or maintenance of parks, schools, roads, and other public facilities. When a county needs a new school, typically the funding will come from SPLOST.

Now on to my point. Let me set up a scenario that could happen in your home. A financially sound home is typically backed by a budget, such as a financially sound institution or state. Say you budget $400 a month to put towards the purchase of a new used car at some time in the future. This month your income is reduced because you didn't receive as many sales commissions as you had budgeted. What happens now? You will look for expense or saving catagories to trim back until your sales commissions are increased to expected levels. In order to complete the neccessaties of putting food on your table and keeping the lights on, you will probably cancel or drastically cut that savings for the new used car because it's currently not neccessary. This is how you keep the financial wheel turning soundly.

Government revenues (taxes...that's the only way they receive money) are decreased. How should the government handle this situation? The school board needs to cut back on funding for new schools so they may continue meeting the neccesities such as teacher salary or the abilities to insert substitute teachers in the event of a teacher being sick...especially since in this case Newton County's growth has slowed and the new school is not an immediate need.

Is this what happens? No. Since the land purchase is funded through SPLOST, they say "oh no, it's fine to cut salaries and not allow subs even though we are spending $1M on land, we are paying for that out of SPLOST because according to the Official Georgia code, we have to."

Well that's idiotic. There is a process called an ammendment by which we can change law that does not currently make sense and does not put forth the best interest of the community. This needs to happen. The government is allowing this $1M purchase because it's already funded. SO WHAT! This is misappropriation of funds in my book. There are more important obligations that need to be met before expansion can happen.

Somebody needs to amend the Georgia code that states the SPLOST requirements (O.C.G.A. Section 48-8-141), put it up to vote, and get it changed. This is called an emergency budget meeting. The government needs to try one.