Over the past 30-plus years I’ve been involved in local government budgeting and have seen many financial ups and downs.

The 2 percent property tax cap in New York state is actually less than 1 percent now and with the sales tax revenue dropping this year the impact on local government budges is even greater. Sales tax decreasing revenue is a key indicator of poor economy and the steady decline is very concerning.

Health insurance costs paid for employees are escalating way beyond inflation rates.  It is more important than ever for local governments to look at any way possible to stay within the tax cap and not deplete the fund balances which should be utilized for emergencies and improvement projects when appropriate. Often I see local governments inflating accounts receivables for water and sewer, which masks a poor financial standing. Most local governments are on “cash basis” financial reporting, but many include accounts receivable in their annual report.

In reality, there is a large percentage of utilities bills that are not paid within the billing period and if levied on county taxes, that revenue would not be received until January or later in the following year distorting the true financial standing.

Consolidations and sharing of services are a good way to reduce local costs without compromising services. Any service a village provides can be provided through special services districts. I would strongly advise that all districts maintain a board of commissioners to represent residents in the district, and keep some control over taxation and rate fees. I believe that towns could merge for even more savings to better utilize their work forces and pooled resources.

I’ve seen a lot of issues with  local governments being more about taking care of their buddies, part-time jobs with full-time pay, excessive benefits, and often people are elected who don’t educate themselves on government regulations, ethics policies, and finance.  New York state has continuously running grants for local government citizens reorganization empowerment grants. Currently listed in the state Grants Gateway website, where all current grants are listed, there is a Municipal Restructuring Fund grant for local government projects that permanently reduce property taxes by sharing services and consolidations.

Most of these grants do not need a professional grant writer, just someone or a team with reasonable intelligence and knowledge of operations to complete the application — most grants now are submitted and periodic reporting is done online.

People need to take an interest in their community and the nation and take the time to educate themselves by going to meetings, read news paper articles, watch different news stations to form their own opinions and not be manipulated by media preferences.  To much bad information comes from babbling bozos at the local coffee shop and bobble heads that repeat it and embellish the garbage talk.

Most people you talk to seriously lack confidence in government, maybe if elected people stood up to a job interview instead of a social contest there wouldn’t be that problem.  Standard purchasing, ethics, discrimination, etc. policies all local governments are required to have in New York state, these policies prohibit public employees from personal benefit from their position or abusing their position and abusing public trust. Strange how those elected swear on a Bible when they accept the position, but then forget the Ten Commandments or maybe feel they don’t apply to them.

If you see something you believe is in violation of polices, the state comptroller’s office and the state attorney general or other state agencies are overseers of local governments and your information can remain confidential if your are afraid of retaliation.

The public has the power to make government accountable, if you see something, say something.

Cindy Lauer is a Perrysburg resident.