Another important aspect of #SmartGov4Herndon is financial responsibility. Especially with the economic impacts of COVID-19, it is critical that the Town use YOUR money carefully, avoid taking on new debt unless absolutely necessary, protect our reserve funds, and maintain our AAA municipal bond rating.

Politicians often like to focus on taxes but I do not believe that is the right approach. Taxes are simply the means to pay for the spending decisions that we make as a community. So before we get to taxes, we need to take a comprehensive look at spending and our priorities as the residents, businesses, organizations, and government of Herndon.

Services and projects provided by the town are not free and fall somewhere on a sliding scale between must haves (basic requirements the Town must do by law) and luxury nice to haves. For example, the Community Center is not a requirement but I also think it is more than just a luxury item. So where do we prioritize it? That is a decision we must make as a community.

Once we understand what our spending priorities are as a community, then we can take a look at how to fund them as well as innovative ideas of ways to provide some things that are not largely or exclusively based on taxes. But that is a topic for another post!

As always I welcome your suggestions, questions, and feedback.

Steve Porter