Budget debacle shows lack of accountability

Editorial

The issue: $37.2 million budget boo-boo.

"Holy budget blunder, Batman!"

That's probably what Robin would say if he'd been at Tuesday's county commissioner meeting.

That's when commissioners learned $37.2 million in carryover funds from the previous budget year somehow didn't make it into this year's budget.

That's kind of like finding a $10,000 Christmas present in June that you forgot your Uncle George sent you.

Highly unlikely.

Unless you're Hernando County government, where bags of cash are often found in file cabinets stored away in closets somewhere in the government complex when times get tough.

OK, so this wasn't cash - only a budget bookkeeping oversight.

Still, we wonder if it was just a dumb mistake. It did make budgets look smaller than they actually are, like county government had been downsized more than it really has been.

Most of the carryover funds - $22.3 million - were unbudgeted in the county's transportation department - a department that has five finance employees who make a combined $268,000 annually with benefits. The budget office, by comparison, only has three. The money was set aside for major road construction projects that just never seem to get off the ground.

We don't know what's worse: forgetting to carry over the funds to the next budget year or doing a lousy job of completing projects, several of which have been on the drawing board for years with as many lame excuses for why.

Our question: Who in the heck is minding the store?

County Administrator David Hamilton told Hernando Today on Wednesday he would get to the bottom of how this budgeting blunder occurred. On Friday, Hamilton announced he had demoted one finance coordinator and promoted another.

The outcome produced less than a $100 increase to the budget.

OK, so what message does this send to taxpayers? What message does it send to other county employees in charge of watching our finances?

Consequences for such an error in the private sector likely would have drawn harsher action. Can you imagine telling your boss that you forgot about $37.2 million?

At any rate, Hamilton says the problem is solved, appropriate actions taken and it won't happen again. A plan to streamline the transportation department is in the works.

Hamilton deserves credit for taking swift and decisive action. It restores confidence in the system.

Still, with the county's financial track record, we're not as optimistic as our county administrator that something like this won't happen again.