It seems we have a new buzz word in government and the word is shortfall. Shortfall has been used to describe the economic effect of lost revenue to government due to the high number of people out of work.
Makes sense because if you have no income you can’t easily pay taxes.
If you have a shortfall in government revenue then you have must have a shortfall in government services. First services to be cut are always the ones which directly affect taxpayers; after all government must punish taxpayers for not paying more taxes for an even larger government.
A great example recently was White House tours for school kids were canceled due to lack of funds. Fortunately no funds are being cut for the president’s vacations.
Locally we have a county budget shortfall because of an unexpected obligation to pay on a bad debt due to an equally bad business deal.
The state is having a severe shortfall at ex-Gov. Purdue’s $30 million “Go Fish” center in Perry. There are more employees than visitors most days.
Now we hear the new Cherokee County “Aquatics” center during the first year will be operating with a “shortfall”. Not to fear, Northside Cherokee will step into the void and fix the shortfall with health care dollars moving cash from one shortfall area to another shortfall area.
That’s the same as using one credit card to make a payment on another credit card except both credit cards are billed to the taxpayer.
Shortfall is a good term to use because it can be used to describe more than just revenue issues. You can also use it to describe a “Shortfall” of common sense in government.
Of course having a shortfall of common sense in government assumes common sense existed there in the first place.
Raleigh Morgan
Canton
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