To the editor:
Nancy and George Youngkin have often been asked how Medford’s budget can be funded next year without a tax increase, which they have promised to oppose. Their answer is always a list of several new strategies that they would use, including claiming Medford’s fair, share of county and state funds, responsible outsourcing, and shared-services, but their call for a zero-based budgeting (ZBB) approach has received the most attention.
The republican council has approached Medford’s financial problem from the top down — starting from the previous year’s budget and deciding what to cut.
The Youngkins prefer a ZBB approach: first, zero out previous year’s budget; second, identify items that are absolutely required by county law, state law, or existing township contracts; third, determine the best way to provide each required service (direct provision, shared-services arrangements, renegotiation, or outsourcing); fourth, apply the same three steps to items that are not required, but extremely important.
The republican Medford council has shown literally no interest in ZBB. In various forums, their supporters have attempted to characterize ZBB as some sort of meaningless “gimmick” and have demanded specific examples of cuts that would be achieved through ZBB. The opponents don’t understand that it’s not about cuts; ZBB is about reconsidering the entire budget from the bottom up, and no one knows what expenses are going to be budgeted until the entire ZBB process is completed.
I was astounded to discover that the current republican candidates for Camden County freeholder make their call for zero-based budgeting one of their top priorities. Their web page says, ”Cutting expense is not hard. You need to start with zero-based budgeting.” Their campaign manager recently explained ZBB, on www.Gloucestertownship.patch.com as “a ground-up, plain-logic solution that starts with a blank slate and the question, ‘What do we absolutely need?’ Costs are estimated for the resulting list of necessary items, which are then compared to the existing budget.”
Apparently, the republican view on ZBB depends crucially on which republicans one asks! This issue is not about political party — it’s about good government. Until the republicans on Medford council catch up with the Camden County republicans, I suggest that all Medford voters — democrats, independents, and republicans — vote for Nancy and George Youngkin.
David Kutner
Medford Resident
