Less services for more dollars

The Issue: The sum of $5 million in daily expenditure going into government payroll of 4,000 gov’t. employees.

Our View: We agree with Senator Maratita that the amount for salaries is a bit too steep in these bad times.

We’ve encouraged the public sector to buckle down and begin employing critical management skills on scarce public funds. We do so in hopes of government managers learning the live in both good and bad times. Unfortunately, such encouragement hasn’t gotten anywhere.

It’s “business as usual” as manifested in budgetary submissions by the various government agencies. Departmental budget requests still ring the familiar chorus of “more” in hopes that they could tip-toe their way out via political patronage. This old and wasteful approach has resulted in less public services for more of taxpayers money! It’s an apparent showcase of arrogance and neglect riddled with imprudence in guarding scarce public funds.

We’re encouraged though by the positive attitude of the House Leadership calling for performance records by all agencies. It forces critical review of their activities to improve the lot of the general public. It’s something that should have been done under the previous leadership, but left to languish in the local mañana of neglect. We appreciate the new leadership’s insistence for performance. It should force accountability among government agencies.

Somehow, leadership must buckle down to turning annual appropriations from payroll to programs. Assuming that the total budget for Fiscal Year 2001 is projected at $240 million. Some $130 million would go for payroll, the balance of $110 million for all others. The latter includes purchases of capital equipment, supplies. It is here where programs are given the balance of what’s left of non-essential expenditure.

This is what Speaker Ben Fitial has enunciated earlier this year about non-essential expenditure. A former budget officer, he’s fully wary of what this item entails and local resolve is lacking to safe taxpayers money from wasteful spending in perpetuity. While government payroll bloats, services has declined beyond our wildest imaginings. It’s encouraging too that taxpayers have decided to scrap their passivity so to air their sentiments on matters that affect the disposition of their hard-earned income.
We hope policy makers and government heads come to grips with the dire need to funnel more public funds for worthy programs. Si Yuus Maase`!