Sure, we’d all like for the government – local, state or national – to possess a little less of our money.

We all likely cringe when we read the amount taken out of each paycheck or as we sign the check for property taxes.

But do you think you’d really notice if you had to pay in 1/4 of a cent less? Would you be able to do something in your life that made a significant impact with that amount of money?

Or would you prefer to have another social worker at DSS, another deputy in the sheriff’s office or another EMT responding to emergencies.

While we couldn’t get all of these for $66,000, we could have had some of these positions – all of which better secure our safety – funded. Another DSS social worker might keep more families together or prevent a custody dispute from turning ugly and causing a safety concern at one of our schools. Another deputy might assist keeping our streets safer without spreading our sheriff’s department so thin.

There’s also the fact that this money almost could have amounted to enough to fund employee raises for an entire year instead of the half year included in the proposed county budget. Those raises would likely mean more to the families who serve us in a variety of capacities each day than $2-$5 would mean to many of us.

There are many other items in the budget that lost funding or didn’t receive the additional help they requested within the process. While we appreciate the idea and all, this is not the time to give a tax break simply for the sake of giving a tax break.

After all, the price of a happy meal is not worth bypassing opportunities to improve our community’s safety nor the quality of life we all could enjoy.

– Editorial staff, Tryon Daily Bulletin