The Uptown paper tries to make the case for a property tax hike in framing this account of the $1.4b. budget, but gets undercut by reality and Commissioner Neil Cooksey:

The budget is the smallest adopted by the county in the past three years, largely because of drops in revenue sources such as sales taxes.

But Commissioner Neil Cooksey said the cuts also were a result of excessive spending by the board in past years.

“The situation we are in is not the result of an unlucky calamity caused by circumstances beyond our control,” Cooksey said. “In a real sense, it is the result, predicted by many … of the conscious decision of the majority of this board in recent years to spend as much money as possible on as many things as possible.”

Utterly undeniable. And if the state yanks more money back, there will still be fat to cut.