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Prince Williams County is facing the problem that most counties in boom areas are facing. They have spent themselves into a corner and as property values have stabilized or lowered, their reckless spending on projects to get themselves re-elected is coming back to bite themselves in the proverbial behind.

The problem is that the once-booming housing market started backsliding in 2006, resulting in lower home values and thus less tax money for the county.

As they prepare the budget for the coming fiscal year, supervisors and budget officials have been faced with two basic options. If the tax rate stays the same, residents will pay less in taxes this year but the county will have to cut more than $22 million in spending. If supervisors raise the tax rate, they could patch the hole in the budget, but residents will pay more in taxes.

The answer, they decided, is to lower tax bills and make the spending cuts.

Hmmm. I wonder if these politicians had to deliberate so hard when property values were rising quickly and they provided a yearly tax increase without having to make a decision. Do you think that instead of taking on projects that were aggresive the county should have kept taxes down to begin with and provided just the basic services they are required to do?

“Assessments have dropped significantly and people know that the values of their homes have dropped and they’re going to be expecting some tax savings,” said chairman Corey Stewart (R).

So Corey Stewart is now figuring out that homeowners (voters) are not stupid and do not like to be insulted.

Stewart argued that when assessments were on the rise, residents accepted that their tax bills would go up too. Making homeowners pay more taxes both when their homes are worth more and when they’re worth less would hardly be fair, he said.

His colleagues agreed.

“They are looking for some kind of tax relief,” said Supervisor Maureen Caddigan (R-Dumfries), adding that the situation is “very very gloomy.” via Times Community Newspapers

Gloomy? C’mon. So you have to cut budget items, and that is gloomy. How about the homeowners who have lost value in their homes, are they thrilled? Champagne popping all over the county? You are the morons who overspent expecting the golden goose to keep on giving with 20 percent property appreciation. If these local governments had foresight instead of greed, they would be much more effective for there constituents.

Somedays it completely amazes me how we can elect people to handle our money who are so utterly clueless with it. I know that if your financial advisor had so little sense they would not be handling your money for long.

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