Governor Bredesen's proposed 2009-2010 Tennessee state budget is up and available for anyone to view as reported in Tom Humphrey's blog.
Don't hold your breath, however, waiting for Hamblen County's budget to be posted on the Hamblen County website!
Governor Bredesen believes that the taxpayers and citizens of Tennessee should be able to see the proposed budget that he presents to the legislature.
County Mayor David Purkey believes that the taxpayers and citizens of Hamblen County should not see the proposed budget that he presents to the Hamblen County Commission.
Why won't Purkey put the proposed budget on the Hamblen County website? Well, he apparently has several different reasons---just pick one.
On March 20, the Tribune reported that Mayor Purkey says he doesn't have the staff to post the budget online and to update changes in revenue estimates. And he is really worried about those constantly changing numbers: "I just don't think it's a good idea to post constantly changing numbers. It's confusing to the public." David, is it really better to keep the public in the dark than to simply explain the changes as they come up?
Governor Bredesen apparently thinks that legislators and the people can understand the difference between a proposed budget and a final budget.
Mayor Purkey apparently thinks that only commissioners can understand the difference between a proposed budget and a final budget---everyone else would be confused.
As for Purkey's lack of "staff" to post the proposed budget. That's pure garbage. He can and does post anything he wants to post.
What he's really afraid of is that there are people who would not be confused, who understand the county budget, and who would be able to ask penetrating questions if the budget were readily available.
In the Tribune (March 20) budget article, Purkey was very careful to omit his other publicly stated reason for not putting the budget online. Back on March 9 at the Public Services Committee meeting, Purkey's said that he doesn't want to put the budget online because he doesn't want "someone sitting in a law office somewhere" looking at the budget and finding mistakes.
Now what attorney is he afraid of? David, can you be more specific?
Is the County Mayor so afraid of "someone sitting in a law office somewhere" that he chooses to deny ALL citizens of Hamblen County the ability and convenience of being able to view the proposed county budget--that those taxpayers fund--on the county website.
These citizens pay the property taxes, the (temporary!) wheel tax, the sales taxes, the business taxes, and all the other taxes that fund the county and school budgets, but the County Mayor won't let them see the proposed budget!
These citizens pay the County Mayor's salary AND benefits AND retirement AND the hefty car allowance that the Mayor requested just over two years ago, but he doesn't think that these citizens should see the proposed budget as they watch the process of arriving at a final budget. Amazing.
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