The Cole County Commission has decided, again, that every county taxpayer will help local charities.
We wholeheartedly support voluntary contributions to nonprofit agencies; we oppose the commissioners' practice of channeling tax dollars to charities they select in amounts they choose.
Government entities are prohibited from making donations, but the county repeatedly has evaded this provision by engaging in "contracts" with non-profit agencies. Commissions, past and present, cite a state law that allows it to contract for services that benefit the public.
The county recently approved such contracts with seven non-profit agencies: Homemaker Services; Able Learning Center; Senior Nutrition Center; Habitat for Humanity; Crimestoppers; Cole County Historic Society; and Central Missouri Foster Care. Contract amounts vary among agencies, ranging from $2,000 to $10,000, and total $45,000.
We support the services provided by all seven recipients. That's not the point.
The point is the three-member county commission should not be diverting mandatory tax dollars to specific charities. Commissioners ought to be deciding public issues like which roads and bridges to improve, not which charities its residents should support.
The commissioners say any agency may make a presentation in support of receiving a contract for services. As we wrote in this forum last year: "Why every potential recipient hasn't beaten a path to the commission's door is a mystery to us."
We believe county residents are perfectly capable of choosing which charities to support. Their generosity has been demonstrated on numerous occasions.
The county's action is inappropriate and an insult to the people it purports to represent.
Existing contracts must be honored, but - as contracts expire - the commissioners must eliminate this practice, which is fundamentally unfair to taxpayers.