Let’s pretend you are a member of the Prince William County Board of Supervisors.
Tax revenues are down, you’ve got a budget shortfall coming, and real estate values have plummted plummeted.
So what do you do ? You raid the rainy day fund, of course:
Cash-strapped Prince William County nearly cleaned out its rainy-day fund yesterday to pay for the start-up cost of increasing law enforcement directed at illegal immigrants.
The Board of County Supervisors unanimously approved transferring almost $800,000 from reserves, leaving Prince William with about $3,000 to spend on unexpected expenses before the budget year ends June 30.
The money pays for a program that directs county police officers to check the citizenship status of people suspected of breaking the law, no matter how minor the crime.
The decision to dip into reserves is unusual, and shows how Prince William is having difficulty financing the crackdown on illegal immigration since the board approved it in October. The rainy-day fund is normally used to offset revenue shortfalls or match grant funds; the county has a separate emergency fund for such expenses as natural disasters.
“It is certainly unusual for the board to use this money to start a new program,” said County Executive Craig S. Gerhart.
The county has a $51 million shortfall and supervisors are likely to raise taxes and cut spending to cover the gap. But the supervisors, many of whom were reelected last fall by supporting the crackdown, are obligated to carry out the new program.
Of course they are. Because, you know, when you demagogue an issue to death for a year you’ve got to at least pretend to follow through. Even if it means higher taxes for the rest of us.
March 19th, 2008 at 3:25 pm
The Unanimous Declaration of Prince William County, Commonwealth of
Virginia
March 1, 2008
When in the course of human events .. etc.
The history of the present (George III, counting Washington) - and past - US Presidents - is a history of repeated injuries and usurpations, all having in direct object the profit of businesses (his supporters) through the availability of illegal labor, forcing out Americans.. To prove this, let Facts be submitted to a candid world.
The current population of illegal aliens residing in the US is estimated at 12-20 million. We are compelled to provide education, medical treatment, and welfare benefits to these illegal aliens without compensation from the Crown. They are billeted 20 to a house (supplemented by back yard sheds with running water). Our local jail is jammed with over 1,000 illegal aliens, and George III has failed to
remove them for deportation. We must hang together, or we will assuredly be washed away in a tide of Urine from the 7-11 parking lots, our children will be turned onto
drugs, and our hands will be macheted at the Multiplex.
For the support of this Declaration we mutually pledge to each other
our Lives, our Fortunes, and our sacred Honor.