County legislators had quite the discussion last week about how much more of your money the county should keep for a rainy day.

In the past the county’s Financial Management Policy gave legislators a 10% range between 5% and 15% of the county’s budget where the county’s surplus should fall at the end of each year. Legislators approved a change to the policy last week recommending a 12.5% of the county’s budget be kept in the surplus. For comparison, the surplus coming into this year was 13.9% of the county’s budget.

Having a surplus isn’t a bad thing. It prevents the county from having to use short-term borrowing when interest rates are high if scheduled payments are late, protects taxpayers from having to borrow money if there is a true emergency and gives the county some flexibility when it comes to financing big projects.

But setting a surplus amount is only part of the equation, in our opinion.

State Comptroller Thomas DiNapoli’s office regularly criticizes school districts for carrying more than 4% of their budget in surplus accounts and often encourages schools to designate excess reserves for specific purposes, like funding worker pension system payments or capital projects. State rules are different for schools and counties, but the idea remains the same – if your taxes are being taken and held in a reserve account, you should have an idea how that money will be spent.

“It’s not a reserve fund for roads or bridges. It’s not a reserve fund for our buildings. it’s not a reserve fund for building a new jail someday. It’s a slush fund because we can use it for anything,” legislator Fred Larson, D-Jamestown, said last week.

We’d suggest an update to the county’s Financial Management Policy – reserves above and beyond 12.5% of the county’s budget each year should be designated for specific purposes like building improvements, bridge projects or major equipment upgrades.

County legislators have set a firm target for county reserve funds. That is honestly preferable to the range the county had previously set. Now, when the county has more than it needs in its savings account, it should put that money to use for something other than gaining interest in the bank.

DiNapoli’s office recently noted the number of bridges that need work to remain safe for public use. Sheriff Jim Quattrone has made noises recently about jail repairs. It seems as if there are uses for your money – and some needed revisions to the county’s Financial Management Policy.