Its that time of the year when the local governments begin their budgeting process.&bsp;&bsp; And its almost Spring, the time of year when the creatures start stirring again. &bsp;

Everyone knows them by their natural sounds:&bsp; tweet tweet,&bsp; ribbet ribbet,&bsp; my taxes are too high, they waste my tax money, privatize privatize, spend spend,&bsp; lower,&bsp; higher.&bsp;&bsp; The noise is almost deafening at times because some of the creatures actually think getting louder makes their argument better.

My experience has taught me that 9 out of 10 people dont know anything about the government budgeting process or the value of the services that they receive.&bsp;&bsp; Why, I dont know. &bsp;

Very experienced and educated people sometimes dont seem to get it.&bsp;&bsp; Maybe its just easier to complain than to spend time understanding it.&bsp;&bsp; I tend to sympathize with those that think their taxes are too high but I cant say that I have ever heard someone seriously say that my taxes are too low. &bsp;

The traditional approach to government budgeting is to go year-to-year.&bsp;&bsp; This approach creates annual havoc and political grandstanding which is not at all in the public interest.&bsp; It only benefits the few and mostly the wrong few.&bsp; &bsp;

Governance is 99% about infrastructure and most public infrastructure issues are long-term and perpetual, not annual events.&bsp;&bsp; Planning steps and phases over a ten-year window will do a better job of spending the public dollar.&bsp; It provides time to fully evaluate and make adjustments as conditions such as the economy change without endangering a worthwhile effort.&bsp; &bsp;

The other benefit is the ability to predict the level of taxation years in advance to match up with the services that are demanded by the public.&bsp; &bsp;

The value to the public is that they dont get the annual summer surprise, an increase in their tax rate.&bsp; The problem is that if a tax rate isnt set until the new budget is adopted it gives very little notice to the public before it becomes payable. &bsp;

This is especially stressful for those living on fixed incomes or social security because they dont have enough time to adjust or account for a property tax increase.&bsp; In some cases it may mean that they can no longer afford to live in their home.&bsp; The least that our leaders can do is to have the discipline to plan multi-year budgets.

You the citizen have an obligation to learn and know about your City or County budget process.&bsp; You have an obligation to be sensible, rational and visionary about whats in it.&bsp; You have an obligation to spend time knowing your leaders and holding them accountable. &bsp;

Your leaders have a duty to listen and respond with positive actions . There is no better time than during the annual budgetary carnival.

(Story Time)

When I was growing up in a small community in West Virginia, one local politician decided that he wanted a tribute to his greatness.&bsp;&bsp; By most standards, he was considered a strong leader and had been involved in politics most of his adult life. &bsp;

He maneuvered the system until he got a new County Courthouse to replace the existing one, a post-Civil War structure with a nice dome and clock.&bsp; Today it would be considered a Historic treasure.&bsp; &bsp;

Progress marched on and the Historic Courthouse was demolished and the new one was built.&bsp;&bsp;&bsp; Unfortunately everything about the new one was a lesson in how not to build a public project. &bsp;

Within five years, the building was settling with large cracks appearing in the brick walls, heating/ air conditioning that was woefully inadequate, doors leaking air, windows leaking water (you get the picture).&bsp; &bsp;

The unanimous public opinion was that it was a typical example of a government failure.

The reality was that it was a public failure because the public failed to get involved in the process and left it to a few leaders who were more interested in their own legacies, not the public interest.

Rodney Gibson is the former Mayor of Saluda.