It is Budget Time for FY 2011. Hard to believe it is upon us already because it seems like we ust got done working on last year's budgets. In the County I live in, the Commission I sit on is responsible for for "scrutinizing" 5 volunteer department budgets and then reporting our recommendations to the Board of Supervisors (BOS). You can say we are sort of the middle man in the process. Does the process work, no. Do the departments get what they ask for regardless of what the Commission says to the BOS? Yes. Is the process in my eyes a total waste of everyone's time and effort? Yes.

Ok. Everybody reading this is probably reading this and thinking to themselves that I have a very poor attitude and I am not giving this process a chance to work. Quite contrary. I have been a big proponnent of this process for the past 2 years (as long as this process has been in place) only to see it totally disregarded by the BOS and just give the individual departments what they ask for with no overisght, no audits of the funds, and basicially blank checks. That is where my attitude comes from.

Tomorrow night, Thursday December 10, 2009 we have our annual budget presentation from the departments to the Commission. This is going to be a long night. We have departments requesting from a low of $33,000.00 from the County to another department requesting a staggering $610,000.00 from the County. The other 4 fall somewhere in between. As you can see, there is a HUGE difference in wht the different departments are asking for. We, in Virginia, as is the rest of this fine nation, are in a money crunch, and have to account for each pencil we buy and utilize. How a department can come in and ask a County for over $600,000.00 in funds when their neighborboring department is asking for somewhere in the area of $50,000.00 is mind blowing. How can one department do it for so low (and doing it damn well) when another is off the charts? Should be fun to find out tomorrow!

This blog is just the start. I will update the process as it continues on. Trust me, I wont leave anything out either because that would not be my style.

So stay tuned folks. The fun is just starting.

Unitl next time.......


(and as I have mentioned before, I am known for typos, so please excuse them. I am not a typist - just an old firefighter putting thoughts on paper. Thanks!)