Fraters Libertas

All We're Asking For Is What We Usually Expect To Get

Yesterday the Star Tribune had an article on the budget difficulties facing Hennepin county, Minnesota's largest county, where I happen to live:

Two hours before a key budget meeting in Hennepin County, Board Chairman Mike Opat was predicting that he had the votes to pump $5 million more into the county's Human Services Department. He was wrong.

On Tuesday, the county is expected to adopt a $1.64 billion budget that for the first time in recent memory calls for employee layoffs and significant spending cuts.

Recent memory? I guess it depends on what you mean by "recent":

Despite the anticipated cuts, the county will still spend $457 million more in 2004 than it did in 1995. And there will be 500 more workers on the county payroll than in 1995.

Since 1980, the county's inflation-adjusted budget has nearly doubled.

Well, you say, sure the budget has increased but so has the size of the county right?

In 1980 there were 941,000 people residing in Hennepin County. In 2003 there were 1,112,000 an increase of 171,000 or 18.17%. The number of county workers in 1980 was 7,181. In 2003 there were 11,515, an increase of 4,334 or 60.35%. So while the population grew by 18%, the number of county workers grew by 60%, and the inflation adjusted budget grew by nearly 100%. Can you say expansion of government?

But now times are tough. Difficult choices have to be made. It won't be easy but we're going to cut back. Right?

In September, the initial 2004 spending plan called for as many as 350 layoffs in addition to the nearly 400 employees who had left last summer as part of an early retirement program.

Sounds about right...

That was later revised to 107 layoffs and another 33 jobs lost because of the elimination of grants.

Hmmm...Not a big impact but I suppose it's a start...

By Dec. 1, officials were predicting 44 layoffs and 25 others let go because of discontinued grants.

Forty four? That's all...

Rafe Viscasillas, the county's human resources director, said the layoff number may decrease even further by January and will probably be "somewhere in the 30s." The total decrease in workers since last January, he said, will probably represent a 7 percent reduction in the county workforce.

But what about the children? How will we survive without these thirty some vital county employees?

Year after year of growth is briefly interrupted by one year of minimal cuts. Next year? The county will probably hire back these thirty and add thirty more. It shows how tough it is to scale back government once it gets established.

By the way the title of this post came from a quote in the story that perfectly sums up the entitlement philosophy:

"All we're asking for," said Bob Polland, who directs a youth camping program, "is what we usually expect to get."