The Owl Says …

By Charlie Houston

This month I’m channeling Roman mythology, specifically Minerva, its goddess of wisdom, and tackling the County’s fiscal tendencies. Lord knows, wisdom is needed there. As a reminder, “fiscal” simply means governmental taxation and spending. Though fiscal applies to governments, it affects you in a sacred place – your pocketbook.

Maslow and His Pyramid of Needs

Abraham Maslow founded humanistic psychology, which posited that there is a hierarchy or pyramid of a person’s needs, first physiological needs like air, water. Next, safety needs, meaning a secure life. In the middle of that pyramid are a need for love and belonginess, then a need for appreciation from others. At the peak is a need for “self-actualization.” Defining just what that means is a murky process, but I’ll suggest that it means contentment, or warmly feeling part of something larger than yourself. Or both.

The Old Days in Georgia

It wasn’t until the late 1960s that Georgia counties were overseen by “Commissioners of Roads and Bridges.” (Today, they are simply County Commissioners, equivalent to our Supervisors.) During the Roads-and-Bridges era, Georgia’s county governments had relatively narrow duties, much akin to Maslow’s safety needs. Later Boards of Supervisors in Georgia began to meet higher levels of needs as society demanded more.

That leads to a basic question: How much governmental activity is too much? Today that question is especially important in Loudoun.

Loudoun Reaches for the Top

Our wealthy and educated citizens may want a lot from our government, or at least the Supervisors think so. However, reaching for the top comes at a real cost—to our wallets.

The late US senator William Proxmire awarded an annual Golden Fleece Award to the most boneheaded expenditure by the federal government. These days that cudgel has been picked up by Kentucky senator Rand Paul, who releases an annual “Festivus Report” that shines a light on a multitude of fiscal waste, such as a million bucks to study ferrets binge-drinking alcohol or $14.6 million to study monkeys playing the Price is Right game. “Festivus” means humorous and in Rand’s case, it’s humor with a fiscal bite.

A Severus Look at Loudoun’s Spending

“Severus” is the antonym of Festivus, so it means harsh, serious, stern, and that’s the way I react to County spending. Its fiscal recklessness especially angers me when I look at my property tax bill. 

Let’s start with an overview. 

With the exception of one seat, our current Board is the same now as it was after the 2019 elections. I’ll start with January 1, 2020 as the beginning of my analysis and January 1, 2026 as the end point. During that period Loudoun’s population grew by 5.9% and the Consumer Price Index rose 26.1%. Those are additive, so start with 32% as understandable growth in County spending. However, proposed spending by the Board actually increases by 78% over that period. Thus, spending would be 243% more than it should have been expected. Remember, you’re paying for this.

Look at some examples of proposed spending increases compared to last year and you’ll grasp the problem:

While inflation was only 2.4%, the County proposes increasing compensation by 6.25% for its general workforce, 8% for Fire & Rescue and 8.75% for Sheriff’s deputies. 

Adding 187 new employees County-wide, while our population growth was essentially stagnant, at only 1%. Apparently, bureaucrats want more bureaucrats. 

A number of especially irksome items are proposed. Try these: Buying “microtransit” vehicles. Increasing spending on County administration by 15%.. My blood is aboil, but I continue: 

A 17% increase in employees in the Parks and Recreation department. 

An “enterprise data warehouse,” whatever that is. Ditto “remote site connectivity.” Wouldn’t smart phones suffice?

A $100 million cost overrun for the Western Loudoun Recreation Complex, for a new total cost of $291 million. (Expect more cost overruns before this turkey opens.) The project would surely be near the pinnacle of Maslow’s pyramid of needs … as a luxury at taxpayers’ expense.

I think the budget document is around 300 pages, and probably chock full of more things that would make us choke.

(A personal note on that new rec center and on the more than $200 million cost of new high schools: Private sector development procedures could cut those costs by as much as half. Our Atlanta development firm produced that kind of result on a number of government projects, from a public safety complex in Florida to student housing and academic buildings for Georgia universities.)

Given that experience, this assumption in Loudoun’s proposed budget blew my mind: A standard construction-in-progress contingency of 40%. That is absolute lunacy! Taxpayer rape! While development budgets should include contingencies, they are usually in the 5 – 10% range.  

LCPS

I critiqued our out-of-control School Board last month. You’ll find its spending misdeeds at https://blueridgeleader.com/my-conversation-with-momus/ Here are two major examples: Loudoun plans on spending $25,000 per student; Fairfax spends $20,000, Fauquier $17,000. Then, Fairfax spends 82% of its budget on instruction, compared to Loudoun’s shameful 64%. Minerva would conclude that Loudoun’s school system is overfull of bureaucrats and bloat.

Since schools consume 50% of County tax revenues, we must examine both LCPS and County spending to understand that citizens are sinking in fiscal quicksand.

Have fun, but have antacids nearby.

The Owl

Minerva’s symbol is the owl. (Hence, “wise as an owl.”) The bird represented studious observation and deep thought, but it remained generally remained silent. 

I guess I have failed the Owl Test of reticence.

Charlie Houston and his wife live on a small horse farm south of Waterford. His interest in classical mythology comes from his father, who retired from a law career to become a university Professor of the Classics. Houston notes that classic myths were tangible part of ancient Hellenic life, which became the foundation of western civilization.