Step back and evaluate priorities

It might be time to take a step back.

Over the course of the last several years we’ve spent a lot of time talking about the revitalization of our downtown areas. We’ve held countless committee meetings and public forums to gather opinions. Portland, Dunkirk, Redkey and Pennville have all created or updated revitalization plans. We worked hard to identify projects in our effort to earn the Stellar Communities designation.

But have we taken a step back and looked at the even bigger picture? Have we thought about how we handle our tax dollars and other funds on a day-to-day basis to provide services in our county, cities and towns?

It might be time to take on that task.

Consider this:

Just this week, Jay County Commissioners and/or Jay County Council were approached with requests for funding for a new restroom facility at Jay County Fairgrounds and to cover the cost of transitioning a half-time Purdue Extension position to full-time. We know in the coming year those groups and our cities and towns will be approached about funding for a new animal control facility.

There have been long discussions about the future of Jay County Retirement Center. And the county has added five new positions, including security for the courthouse, that will cost hundreds of thousands of dollars annually.

A new Main Street group was created in Portland this year. The clean-up of the former book bindery site for which the city paid to remove rubble and undertake environmental testing is coming to a close.

Tax dollars have gone toward murals in Dunkirk and Portland. Dunkirk continues to rehabilitate the former depot building.

Redkey is working to improve its park cabin. Pennville would like to expand its library.

These things all have something in common. They require money. And money is limited.

In the past, such requests have been handled on an individual basis — a project seems worthy, so if dollars are available at the time, it is funded. But are we considering how the projects fit into our overall mission and how they effect our county, city and town budgets as a whole? What is the return on investment? Is there a way to leverage our dollars to bring in funding through grants or other programs? What is the overall impact?

That’s why we need to step back. It’s time to prioritize.

What should our government entities be spending money on? Each entity — county, city and town — needs to answer that question.

First, they can check off the obvious needs. Governments need to handle our streets, sewers, water lines and sidewalks. Police and fire protection are a necessity, as is our ambulance service.

Are those being handled adequately and efficiently so far? Do we need to make changes to funnel more, or less, money toward them? Are there needs that aren’t being met?

Beyond those necessities and others, what’s next?

Is it the fairgrounds, retirement center, animal control, parks, security, extension programs, downtown upgrades, blight removal, something else, all of them or none of the above?

It’s by answering these questions that we will be able to make sure our decisions about spending the remaining tax dollars we have left after covering our necessities are focused toward our priorities.

The process won’t be easy. It’s difficult to weigh projects that are all worthy of consideration, as everything stated above is, and rank one above or below the other. But it is necessary.

If we take a step back, we can make sure in the future that we move forward in the right direction. — R.C.