Last week, Powhatan Point Village Council members discussed seven options for dealing with a severe financial crunch. They adopted six of them, without even putting the seventh on a list to be considered immediately.
That seventh option was an increase in taxes on village residents.
By the end of this month, the village's general fund may be drained, council members were told. That made it clear that swift, drastic action was needed to reduce spending.
Suggestions by council's finance committee were just that - drastic. The committee recommended six options, leaving the seventh off their list. They include a four-day work week for Powhatan Point employees, suspension of payments to emergency and fire personnel for making runs, overtime pay for workers only on an emergency basis, a hiring freeze and purchases only in emergencies. In addition, a 20 percent pay cut for elected officials was approved. While council cannot reduce officials' pay, Mayor Ryan Lee and other council members agreed to the cut voluntarily.
Spending cuts approved by council will reduce the quality of municipal services. For obvious reasons, they will not be popular with village employees, or with fire and other emergency personnel.
But Powhatan Point's budget needs to be kept in balance - and increasing revenue is the only other way to accomplish that.
During last week's meeting, Councilman Jerry Binni, chairman of the finance committee, was asked if the panel had considered a quarter-percent increase in the village income tax in order to provide more revenue. No, Binni replied. He added that finance committee members believe it is vital for the village to attempt to balance its budget through spending cuts before adding to residents' tax burden.
We agree entirely. The recession has been tough on many Powhatan Point residents, like others in our area. The very last thing they need now is higher taxes.
Council members were right to adopt their policy of rejecting a tax cut, at least for now. We hope they are successful in keeping Powhatan Point's budget in the black.