Intel founder Gordon Moore coined a phrase in 1965 known as Moore’s Law, which essentially stated that computer power, or speed, doubled about every year.
The modern version, blessed by Moore himself, says it doubles every 18 months. We see this every day as computers become faster and cheaper. Look at the new iPods and you get a feel for how much we incorporate the new advances daily into our lives.
I’d like to add to Moore’s Law and coin a phrase known as Adams’ Axiom (I might as well attempt to be remembered for something). The axiom goes like this: For all government programs, as the original intent and need for it dissipates there is an equal increase in the corresponding defenders of the program. That is to say, when we no longer need a given governmental creation, the volume of those wishing to keep it increases in legislative halls at budget time.
For example, civic centers dotted throughout the state lose money every year. They are used from time to time. There are even wonderful events conducted within them. But it would also be fair to say that the taxes used to support them, namely hotel-motel taxes, could be better used to promote tourism for the area.
It could also be argued that events conducted at private establishments, instead of at civic centers, contribute more to the local economy than do civic centers. But the minute someone attempts to ask such questions in public, swarms of supporters will decry the move, the volume of their collective voices will echo in the chambers of the elected.
The same could be said for municipal golf courses, which are essentially middle-class welfare and have no role in government. When any query arises about the justification of a public golf course, individuals will invariably talk about their memories of the course or the expense of an adjacent course.
All in all, subsidizing a golf course isn’t right. Competing golf courses are paying property taxes to subsidize the existence of their competition. The course in question should be generating property taxes, not spending them.
The second axiom would be that though a program might no longer be necessary, making it too complex to understand will help to ensure its long-term existence. Here, the ground becomes more fertile. This state has dozens of “economic incentive” programs, and the public has very little, if any, understanding of how they all work. Elected officials, likewise, understand very little of the various intricacies of the Lee Act, Golden LEAF, tax credits, industrial training programs, Community Development Block Grants, and countless others. Keeping them complex protects them from scrutiny or revision. It took a colossal breakdown of ethics and a full-scale audit of the Northeast Regional Partnership to figure out it was rife with abuse and had to be shut down.
One has to wonder how much more problematic these programs truly are. As the State Auditor’s Office probes more deeply we might yet see countless other issues surface with these partnerships.
In the end, state and local government should provide core services in an efficient and timely way, be simple and understood by the public, and be continually evaluated.
Complexity ensures the perpetuity of bureaucracy, and citizens become frustrated attempting to understand their government. If you think I’m lying, try to figure out whom to call the next time you need a pothole repaired.
Chad Adams is vice chairman of the Lee County Board of Commissioners, director of the Center for Local Innovation, and vice president for development of the John Locke Foundation.