Down Interstate 40, the N&R reports (e-edition only) Greensboro’s population growth trials the state’s other major cities, including Winston-Salem and —gasp —– High Point.
Veteran reporter Donald Patterson turns to the usual UNCG sources for insight. Urban geography professor Keith Debbage says “growth is a surrogate measure for the overall health of a community,” while economics professor Don Jud says local leaders should focus on the tools of economic growth, which “means keeping public services high and taxes at a low level.”
Fair enough, Greensboro cut taxes, while it seems like everyone around us is hiking taxes. G’boro’s cut impressed those watching from afar, but those of us who live know it could have been much, much better, especially when the haggling was over loose-leaf collection and the Children’s Museum.
On that note, the Rhino’s John Hammer analyzes the ‘rookie mistakes’ Mayor Bill Knight and council member Danny Thompson —both elected on a conservative platform —made when negotiating the budget:
Knight and Thompson were working on their first budget. They have been misinformed over and over again by staff during their six months in office, but they seemed to think that the budget information from staff was carved in stone.
…From talking to Thompson, one of the roadblocks they seemed to hit is when they found that the budget for software maintenance increased by about $1.5 million, and that the budget for small tools and equipment increased by about $1 million, and pointed it out to city staff. It turns out the city staff had a perfectly reasonable explanation for how that money would be spent. It was almost as if Thompson expected the city staff to slap their foreheads and say, “You found the money we hid.”
Next both Thompson and Knight will be, shall we say, older and wiser.
