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The two choices facing Dawson County
Opinion
The Board of Commissioners and the City Council are faced with making a choice between two possible scenarios of the future. Either choice involves guessing or forecasting the next several years. If you look at the future, a static case would assume that growth of population will continue at very low levels so that demand for government services will remain about where it has been over the last several years or grow only slightly. If tight controls on spending can be kept the current budgets can be made to work. With a static case, we can wait on funds to come in and spend only as they are collected. But because of the past pattern of spending where a lot of needs were postponed for things like vehicles and raises and road repair, we face a period of catch up that will press finances and probably require the fund balance savings to be spent and the tax rate to remain static or increased slightly.