Fiscal Conservatism?

The above Facebook posting is a pristine example of “fiscal conservatism.”  You run for office preaching about out of control spending and how you are going to save the IOP from the self immolation of “spending money we don’t got.”  Then, once elected, you find out how to spend someone else’s hard earned money!  Oh yeah, also make sure to pat yourself on the back while you are at it. This is NOT a post about the lights.  They may or may not be a good idea.  But it seems to this editor that if you are a fiscal conservative and want the lights, you ought to figure out a way to pay for them yourself.  But no, our elected councilmembers go “Washington” on us and come up with a way for some other poor taxpayer to fund the project. Finally, here is the real kicker:  Look at Draft 1 of the city’s budget for July 1, 2015 through June 30, 2016.  On page 24, line 138 under a section dealing with expenditures of Municipal Accommodation Taxes, the city has projected an increase of $35,000 to the budget to pay for electricity for the new lights. Maybe, just maybe, these new lights are not exactly low cost!