The Cole County Commission, in approving its annual budget recently, unceremoniously made a decision that won't endear itself to several local not-for-profits. But the decision should win approval from you, the taxpayer.
Commissioners ended the longstanding practice of providing taxpayer funding to a select group of area charitable organizations.
In the fiscal 2016 budget, the county gave $50,500 to a total of eight different organizations. None of that money was plugged into the fiscal 2017 budget. All of the organizations are important, and all of them need funding to continue their good work. But publicly funding the agencies isn't right.
Western District Commissioner Kris Scheperle has made a sustained push to end the practice. Change takes time, but the effort finally succeeded. Presiding Commissioner Sam Bushman worked toward a compromise, and Eastern Commissioner Jeff Hoelscher has supported funding the organizations.
It's a tough issue, but we have editorialized against it repeatedly in the past. Scheperle clearly and succinctly sums up our own argument: "There's a lot of good not-for-profits in the county. But it's not the role of government to fund them. That's for private individuals."
In the past, commissioners had justified the funding by citing a state law that allows county government to "contract" with agencies that provide services to county residents. Many of those contracts were fairly generic, often allowing the organizations to do what they want with the money.
Part of the problem, as we've written here before, is putting the commission in charge of determining which charities are worthy of public assistance and which ones are not. And where do you stop? At what point does assisting nonprofits become a financial drain on the county's ability to provide essential government services?
It's up to us as individuals to determine which local agencies merit funding. We have a very giving community - a community that gives its money and its time to good causes. Look no further than the United Way. A little more than two months ago, it announced that the community gave $1.9 million to its annual charitable campaign. That's around $100,000 over the agency's goal.
We commend commissioners for making the tough, but correct, decision for their constituents. And we ask you, area residents to continue your generosity.
Especially consider these eight organizations that will no longer be funded by the county, followed by the funding they are losing:
Central Missouri Foster Care and Adoption Association, $5,000.
Homemaker Service, $7,500.
Able Learning Center, $3,500.
Senior Nutrition Center, $10,000.
Habitat for Humanity, $10,000.
Art in the Park/Atelier $5,000.
Cole County Historical Society, $7,000.
Down Town Thursday Night, $2,500.