Ask an accountant to determine the bottom line, and you expect a crisp, clear answer that's comprised of a number following either a plus or a minus. Government, though, ain't that simple.

A few weeks back, County Commissioner Harold Rutledge, who must have been reading my blogs, ordered a report that would determine county government's bottom line, to seperate the things government is required to do from what it chooses to do. County Auditor Mike Price got the assignment, but instead of the usual plus-minus accounting bottom line his Bottom Line Report (my title, not his) is more like a reminder of government's reality. And that's both good and bad.

Good because, as County Manager Fritz Behring wrote in the report, the report isn't any kind of official staff recommendation, but a good starting point for facing future budget issues. Bad because it means the choices facing local government aren't going to be as easy as just making the sure the public checking account isn't overdrawn.

So, exactly what is it that law requires Clay County government to do? Well, incredibly little.

There has to be a County Commission and some specific offices designated by the State Constitution - sheriff, supervisor of elections, etc. Gives the Board authority to fund those offices, too, but doesn't require a dime to be spent for any of them. The state also grants our county government the power to do pages and pages of specific things, plus other things in the public interest that haven't even been thought up yet. All kinds of authority, but nothing that says county government is required by the state that it be used.

The reality of local government is that we do expect it to provide some of the services it's authorized, but not required, to provide. It can establish a public works division, and that's a good thing. Without it, the only paved roads would be US 17 and the various state roads. We'd be putting out our own fires and handling justice as either individuals or mobs.

There are other, less drastic, examples of services that are generally accepted as functions of local government, such as providing libraries, parks, etc. Clay County Animal Control is another example. Imagine what life would be like with an additional 8,000 stray and unwanted dogs and cats every year wandering through our neighborhoods and breeding. Or if no one checked to see if the wiring used by the electrician building your new dream house is actually safe. All provided in the public interest and, in the context of today's governmental reality, expected.

So for the most part, local government has assumed its variety of services through choice. In doing so, it has incorporated contracts and grant obligations that have created their own "requirements." Price's examples included Camp Chowenwah and Moccasin Slough. Florida Community Trust contributed grant money to facilitate those purchases, but also created some requirements of county government. Far from being a "free" state grant, the report says "grants like these required the Board to make future commitments of capital and operating expenditures forever."

The bottom line of this Bottom-Line Report is that the reality of local government is that there isn't really a typical accountant's bottom line.

Michael S. Mann

michaelsmann@comcast.net [1]