Mecklenburg County Manager Harry Jones is to be commended for making clear that $95m. in budget cuts are needed immediately if the county is to avoid endangering its AAA bond rating. But make no mistake, it did not have to happen this way.

The county simply went on a spending and debt binge that would have to come to screeching halt at some point. That point is now. We’ve talked about it for years now on Meck Deck, it was obvious to anyone who took an honest look at the numbers.

Now anyone looking for a silver lining should hope that finally — finally — reality may start playing a role in our local fiscal decision making process.

Maybe.

Update: Recall that back in mid 2008 it was clear the county was banking on a big property reval bump to make its budget dreams a reality. Assessed valuations were to hit $121 billion by next year, $140b. by 2015. Recall that waaayy back in 2003 the total valuation of property in the county was only $69b.

Let’s say that again: Official county fiscal policy simply assumed that the value of real property in the county would increase 100 percent in 12 years. Every year for a dozen years the value would increase by over 8 percent. And if you look at how the county spent and spent in recent years, it more or less exactly mirrored that 8 percent a year assumption.

What a huge, avoidable mistake.