There is a great article in the Washington Post about Gaithersburg's excellent fiscal discipline that has allowed it to remain debt free for years.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/…..story.html
It appears that government officials in Gaithersburg prudently and conservatively spend tax dollars as if they were coming out of their own personal pockets – they don't overpay for things and spend recklessly just because it's 'someone else's money.' In fact, Gaithersburg even pays for capital expenditures with retained surpluses rather than going into debt (or as Arlington County calls it, “issuing a bond”).
It would be incredible if Arlington County could eventually get it's financial house in order and look more like Gaithersburg. I can only dream…
John Fontain said:
There is a great article in the Washington Post about Gaithersburg’s excellent fiscal discipline that has allowed it to remain debt free for years.
http://www.washingtonpost.com/…..story.html
It appears that government officials in Gaithersburg prudently and conservatively spend tax dollars as if they were coming out of their own personal pockets – they don’t overpay for things and spend recklessly just because it’s ‘someone else’s money.’ In fact, Gaithersburg even pays for capital expenditures with retained surpluses rather than going into debt (or as Arlington County calls it, “issuing a bond”).
It would be incredible if Arlington County could eventually get it’s financial house in order and look more like Gaithersburg. I can only dream…
Probably because Montgomery County pays for the costs of illegals while the city of Gaithersburg doesn't have to. You are comparing a city to a county. G'burg like Montgomery County is run by whacky libs, but the county has the bigger burden here.
“pays for the costs of illegals” and “run by whacky libs”
Steve, why is it that you feel the need to hijack every thread with your obvious trolling?
^^^^^^^^^^Please don't feed the troll.^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^
As with most things in life and governance we need balance. Up to a point governments should take on debt (as should businesses). It makes little sense, for instance, to build a new school (or a new factory if your a business) straight out of an operating budget. That said, Gaithersburg is NOTHING like Arlington (or Montgomery County for that matter). it's especially outrageous that the article shows a high school picture. Gaithersburg is not responsible for schools. The county does that. Likewise they don't have to build jails or provide EMS and all sorts of other things that comes through the county or state. (To be sure, Gaithersburg's citizens pay taxes to MontCo and the state, so it's not a free ride for Gaithersburg's residents by any means.)
yequalsy said:
As with most things in life and governance we need balance. Up to a point governments should take on debt (as should businesses). It makes little sense, for instance, to build a new school (or a new factory if your a business) straight out of an operating budget. That said, Gaithersburg is NOTHING like Arlington (or Montgomery County for that matter). it’s especially outrageous that the article shows a high school picture. Gaithersburg is not responsible for schools. The county does that. Likewise they don’t have to build jails or provide EMS and all sorts of other things that comes through the county or state. (To be sure, Gaithersburg’s citizens pay taxes to MontCo and the state, so it’s not a free ride for Gaithersburg’s residents by any means.)
Gaithersburg has a lot of poor people living it. Not that many will be contributing to the county tax bases. I grew up in Moco. There's a very high county tax, but only people who make decent bank pay it. And you confirmed my point, that it's stupid to compare a city to an entire county, because the city of gaithersburg doesn't have the obligations that a county like Moco or Arlington has. If it were say new york state, where schools etc are run on the local village level, then it would be a better comparison.
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