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Requests for tax money always exceed the funds available. At the same time, such allocations are becoming increasingly weaponized, at both the federal and state level. University officials across the nation have felt compelled to forfeit their independence and change or eliminate courses and administrative policies after promised allocations have been cut or threatened. Cities and counties have laid off key officials and canceled programs that were deemed pro-diversity in order to receive funds.
Meanwhile, internet-based direct funding increasingly is becoming a viable option, whether for individual, political or business purposes.
Local officials might want to look into such direct funding for key projects.
One case in point is the possible loss of funding for coastal projects such as dune maintenance, erosion control and other matters. South Padre Island officials have issued the alert that for the second consecutive year, the federal government has proposed eliminating such funding.
Last year, Congress eventually authorized $6.2 billion nationwide to address such issues. This year, however, they once again are on the chopping block.
Could such uncertainty become an annual headache for the Rio Grande Valley and other coastal areas?
Attaching strings to government funding is nothing new. For example, the 55-mile-per-hour speed limit that was in effect from 1974 to 1995 was a national mandate, but its enforcement was based on state laws that were enacted in order to receive federal highway funding that was based on compliance.
At the same time, Americans increasingly complain that government taxation, at all levels, has become so painful that it affects their quality of life. Politicians have found that a promise to reduce taxes is an effective campaign strategy.
Moreover, many taxpayers complain that the money that is taken from them by force is used to fund programs that violate strongly held beliefs, such as military actions they oppose.
Expanding options for crowdfunding, enabling the public to make direct contributions for specific purposes, could address such issues. Island officials, for example, could ask for donations that could help fund key projects without competing with other entities for limited funding or jumping through the hoops that federal and state offices often place in their way.
Such an approach isn’t unprecedented. Before toll roads became a constant revenue stream, they were more often part of the “turnpike” system in which drivers helped pay for the roadway construction. Once those construction costs were paid off, the toll booths came down.
To be sure, policies would have to be set in order to ensure that the funds are used for their stated purpose and that full transparency and accountability are maintained.
Certainly, state and federal officials could see direct funding as a challenge to the power they can wield over local entities, and restrict or ban it outright. Instead, we hope they see it as an option that encourages funding for specific projects while reducing the need to impose ever-increasing general tax burdens.