Voters tell government to prioritize

By Jason Mercier
Evergreen Freedom Foundation

9/22/05

It appears voters are ahead of the curve, compared with elected officials, when it comes to priorities of government budgeting. With results for the state’s primary election still trickling in, various tax increases, such as Kitsap and Franklin Counties’ police taxes, are being shot down. According to the Kitsap Sun, “Even the Kitsap County Deputy Sheriff’s Guild, which would have gained 16 deputies, didn’t support the measure. They believe the county should prioritize the money….” The message from voters is clear—government needs to prioritize its expenditures before turning to taxpayers for more money.

Voters realize that when they are asked to raise their taxes, regardless of the purported earmark for any new taxes, these increases are not really to fund the highest priorities. If elected officials are following a priority of government (POG) budget model and truly prioritizing all potential expenditures against each other, the highest priority needs will be the first ones purchased, not dependent on tax increases.

For example, consider the state’s 2005-07 budget and tax increases. Though the Democrats’ tax increases were sold as being for education, under a POG budget, Democrats were actually saying those activities purchased with the tax increases were at the bottom of the state’s priority list. You can understand the political reasons why Democrats told taxpayers these tax increases were necessary for high priority purchases. Saying we need to raise taxes to pay for non-core functions of government, such as the state engaging in commercial activities or various forms of corporate welfare, isn’t as compelling as saying tax increases are needed “for the children.”

Despite their well-chosen, focus-group tested words, elected officials demonstrate their true priorities for our tax dollars with those activities they purchase first. Otherwise government hasn’t been truly utilizing priorities of government budgeting.

So elected officials, which is it? Are your budgets truly prioritized and tax increase proposals are actually to allow the purchase of low priorities, or have you not really prioritized your budgets?

Jason Mercier served as an advisor to the 2002 Washington State Tax Structure Committee and is often consulted by media outlets and legislative staff for issue briefs or policy analysis. He is the author or co-author of numerous policy highlighters and in-brief reports. His editorials have appeared in newspapers and magazines including The Washington Post and on FoxNews.com. He currently serves on the board of the Washington Coalition for Open Government. Jason received a B.A. in Political Science from Washington State University.

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