A shortfall blame game of Olympic proportions

If finger-pointing were an Olympic sport, Georgia has a serious gold medal contender under the Capitol’s gold dome.

Faced with a revenue shortfall, Gov. Sonny Perdue has postponed payment of the homeowners tax relief grants, a $428 million item, to local governments. If the General Assembly goes along with the governor’s plan to eliminate the grants this year, local governments, most of which have already given taxpayers the homestead tax relief credit and issued tax bills, will have to re-bill taxpayers to make up the difference.

This means the state government will be raising local property taxes. But Perdue, in a nimble display of finger-pointing, says no, he is not to blame for this. Instead, it’s local governments that have raised taxes and failed to cut spending.

And, proving he’s a multi-sport competitor, the governor goes on to do some gymnastic feats with state tax data and makes a spectacular long jump to the conclusion that local government spending is out of control.

Either the governor is out of touch with what’s going on in city governments or he is pole vaulting over facts to reach his goal: eliminating the tax relief grants.

Cities are service providers. They provide citizens with the security of knowing that the water they’re drinking is safe; that when they call 911, police will respond or firefighters will arrive shortly; that at least once a week, their trash will be taken away and disposed of according to environmental standards; and that their children have clean, safe parks to play in.

The governor asserts that local governments have not been cutting back. In regard to cities, this is far from the truth. Every year when they adopt their budgets, and then throughout the year, cities evaluate their budgets, weighing demands for services against tremendous political pressure to keep taxes low.

Since 2002, when city residents were first afforded the tax relief credits, municipal property taxes have actually decreased nearly 3 percent when adjusted for inflation and population growth.

While the governor would paint local government spending as “out of control,” city government spending is, in fact, very similar to the state’s rate of increase. From 1998 to 2005, state government expenditures increased by 8.4 percent per capita when adjusted for inflation. During that same period, city government general fund expenditures rose 11.15 percent per capita, adjusted for inflation.

There are also costs that city leaders have no control over: fuel, building materials, energy costs and environmental mandates, just to name a few.

It’s interesting that while the governor flies to China and other international destinations to encourage companies to move to and invest in Georgia, city officials are in their hometowns making the investments in the infrastructure —- providing water, sewer, safety, paved roads and quality-of-life services —- that make those companies want to move here.

And how does the state’s top elected official show his appreciation to these elected officials who make good on the promises the governor makes in the name of economic development? By pointing his finger at them and calling them irresponsible. A gold medal performance, indeed.

> Jim Higdon is executive director of the Georgia Municipal Association.