Budget solution

Dear Editor,

I applaud Mr. Berry's recent article on the virtues and necessity to do business locally.

As our new councilman, I would hope his sensible approach would include government's obligation to the people. The reality is, state and local governments have failed us. Their irresponsibility has placed us near the bottom in all criteria to attract business and industry, which is what we need to retain our young families.

On Dec. 6, more likely than not, (the) City Council will again thumb its nose at McCook's future by raising water rates again. My math on the homes I own tells me residential water rates are going up 30 to 37 percent!

With a $21 million budget, if the city cut expenses by only 1 1/2 percent a year, it should have the money from current sources without raising our water rates.

At a time when airline pilots take a 30 percent pay cut to keep their jobs, when unions and others are making concessions in wages, health care and pensions to keep their companies afloat, why should government be exempt from responsible fiscal management?

As weird as it may seem, cutting expenses to make ends meet is not a novel idea. I will wager, if keeping their job meant that government employees had to cut costs by 15 percent, they'd get it done.

Unfortunately, until we impose job cuts, cost and benefit restraints, they have no incentive.

Realizing asking some small adjustment in the spend-spend attitude is like teaching an elephant to whistle; why not use sales tax funds? The argument that those in our trade area don't want to spend money to solve McCook's problems is absurd ... while folks outside McCook may not be thrilled by our 1 percent sales tax, in reality, 99 percent don't give a hoot how we spend it.

Most are smart enough to know increased water rates will be passed on to consumers. Heck, my barber raised his prices to help pay his share of the air base goof. We must understand that responsible management of our money is going to be hard work.

If it were easy, it would have been practiced a long time ago. Will those of courage appear? Or will we suffer mismanagement of girly men? (Sorry, couldn't resist that.) Finally, it might interest Mr. Berry that I have been informed that a local engineer who has been paid hundreds of thousands of dollars by McCook, recently bought his carpet out of town. 'Nuff said.

Bill Frazier,

McCook