$7 million in new spending

So, the County Commission's Budget Committee meets Tuesday at 6 PM to discuss, among other items, spending $7.25 million from the Hospital Reserve Fund.

The Commission is proposing to use these dollars to 1) make up for the giant hole in the insurance trust left by their own mismanagement of the program 2) Fund several possibly worthy public projects.

It is interesting to note that the dollar amount matches almost exactly the dollar amount requested by the School System this year during the budget battle.

It's also interesting that while the County Commission refused to spend the money on schools because the money had to be spent on an "economic development purpose" they are now proposing to use $3 million to balance the insurance trust - which hardly seems an "economic development purpose" and is rather a "crisis avoidance purpose."  The other projects may or may not merit expenditures from the County -- but remember, we didn't seem to have ANY money available for schools back in August.  Now, it's fine to spend over $7 million on a BIG mistake and on special projects.

Again, that meeting is at 6 PM on Tuesday.  Will the Budget Committee authorize these expenditures? Will doing so pass legal muster? Stay tuned ...