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BOOK 90 PAGE 488 departments are operating at minimum or even on the down side of that, and a 10 percent cut may put them out of business and rob the public of a vital service. He thought that each department should be analyzed separately. We may not be able to control assessments, or what the Property Appraiser does, but the people have a right to know what he does. Commissioner Macht stated that he would like to see a geographic analysis of the assessments throughout the county because he suffered a considerable increase in his assessment, and he was sure everybody else would like that information. He observed that government seems to be unable to convey to the public the message of the plans we are responsible for and the method we use to discharge them. He noted the misunderstanding regarding the 3 percent cap, which is really the 3 percent cap on increases in assessments and is quite different from a tax cap. The differential in assessments this year is most likely an effort to forestall the consequences of the 3 percent cap in the future. He cautioned that assessments on property which is rapidly accreting in actual value can be increased only at that 3 percent. As a result, most of us with average assessed values will pay a disproportionately higher amount than the higher valued property. Commissioner Macht affirmed that there are many things beyond our control and the Board members have done the best we can with what we have. Perhaps we should make a greater effort to work with the whole vertical structure of government. There are many things we want to do; others we are forced to do in the form of mandates. We congratulated ourselves a few years back when the legislature passed a law saying they cannot pass unfunded mandates with less than three quarters of the legislature voting, but there are many ways of doing it de facto by passing regulations for non-productive environmental regulations. A lot of it is vital; a lot of it is not productive but we are saddled with it. One example is the 6 new employees for the Solid Waste Disposal District. Commissioner Macht pointed out that salaries for those employees are not seen in the General Fund but they will show up in the rates. He asked the public to remember that the Board members are ordinary people trying to struggle through a very difficult process. Government includes not only the Board but the public as well, and the Board has a responsibility to include the public in the budget process. The public must realize that when we build a new courthouse or library, we pay for it one time, but there are additional operating costs that never go away and never decrease. Commissioner Macht assured the public that the Commissioners confront those problems everyday and take that responsibility very seriously. 20 ® M M