One of the things that is or at least should be annoying to voters is the "use it or lose it" mentality of the agencies on the receiving side of the tax equation.
It probably occurs at the top of the top agencies and works its way down to the bottom levels.
Here's an example of that happening in plain sight, albeit at the lower level. Midland College is a taxing entity in Midland, Texas. And there's a plan on the books to build a new dining hall even though the old one is quite sufficient to serve the students and the public. But with the booming economy, tax revenue is high, and the college has money to burn.
The article on the right was in the March edition of the school newspaper -- the Midland College Press.
The budget for the new dining hall jumped up by a million dollars simply because they had the money, not because of any need. It's almost as if they searched for a way to spend the money.
The students will not learn any lesson about fiscal responsibility from this. In this era of "free everything," that lesson will have to wait for the next recession. Or as Margaret Thatcher famously said, "the problem with socialism is that eventually you run out of other people's money."
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2:32 PM 3/22/2019
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