Budgets!!!!

        Money in, money out, proposed, adopted, all things budget and all things that do not tickle my fancy. That’s right I learned more about a budget than I would have liked but am glad I did. As Preston Trigg told us, budgets are the least taught subject in schools, and for good reason. Listening to the ins and outs of a budget bore me but I am aware that budgets are important to know.

        I guess the most important thing about budgets is not knowing every single detail but knowing how to navigate around one. Trigg mentioned that those who propose the budgets also put out an executive summary. At first I thought GREAT! that means I do not have to read everything else. Then he had to go and burst my bubble and say that is what they want you to read. With all things there is a fine print and putting out an executive summary they are trying to make us not see the fine print.

       I found this quite interesting, why wouldn’t they want us to dig deeper into their budget. Well I learned that in the summary they might say there is going to be a 2 cent increase on salaries, which may not seem like a lot. But if you look harder at those 2 cents  that could mean a 45 percent increase overall. Now that is something to look at. I know that if I was covering that government agency I would want to know why there is such a high percentage increase. On the flip side it is also important to look at decreases. They may decrease one item and raise another to make it seem like everything is even but in reality someone is getting taken for a ride.

       What makes my job as a journalist even harder is trying to find a story out of these increases and decreases. Sure a tax increase is a no brainer but what it there is an increase in the computer equipment budget. On the surface it may look like they are replacing old equipment but it could mean that their current equipment is magically appearing in employees houses.

     All things considered I’m glad I learned how to look at a budget and what to look for but hopefully I will not have to deal with them.