County Budget Reform

Do you have any idea what the Wheel Tax really bought us? If it weren't for an internal war in County Commission, would we have ever learned about the P-cards and other slush funds? What other dark secrets hide inside the Knox County budget?

The Commission needs to restore the confidence of the citizens of Knox County that their $500 MILLION+ budget is being spent wisely. A Commission loaded with long-time city/county politicos has no accountability.

If elected, I pledge to put forth more effort than anyone ever has to explore all elements of the budget, considering:

• A More Serious Budgeting Process-The process for preparing for the 2009-2010 budget should start in Fall 2008, with metrics defined for each department, and each department measured against peer counties to find which departments can better absorb personnel cuts. In the business world, when you hit a downturn, everyone has to learn to do more with less.
  
• Vehicle Waste -The County has hundreds of vehicles, mostly gas-guzzling SUVs, for positions that don't require those kinds of vehicles and, in many cases, a county vehicle is not truly required. The County pays for the vehicle AND insurance AND maintenance AND gas, so each unnecessary vehicle runs $10,000 to $20,000 per year. We should easily be able to recover $500,000 from the budget by switching employees with occasonal vehicle use to mileage reimbursement (again, like private industry).
  
• Budget Priorities- could this money be better spent another way and achieve the same goal? . Why is our newly appointed Trustee spending over $30,000 on new office furniture and remodeling? Or should we be using that money to improve communications between our police, fire, and other emergency services?
  
• Conflicts of Interest- What ties exist between those expending the funds and those appropriating the funds (or auditing their expenditure)? The answer should always be "none whatsoever." Nothing less is acceptable.
  
• Fair Taxation- Is a new tax unfairly applied? Are taxpayers being asked to bear the burden for new costs incurred by specific activities (such as development) that could pay for the burden with a simple usage fee or adjusted permitting fees?
  
• Efficiency- Is the money being spent in an effective manner? Knox County spent millions of dollars on voting machines without paper trails long after the issue of electronic voting machine vulnerabilities were well-known. We continue to budget for more eSlate machines, which will in all likelihood have to be replaced with new machines to meet likely federal standards for paper trails. Potentially millions of taxpayer dollars have been poured down the drain.

It's time for a fresh look and to have people on County Commission who will be a tiger when considering how the people's money is spent.