For the first time in years, North Carolina’s budget is shrinking, not growing. That’s good news, especially during tax month. The bad news is that it took a financial crisis comparable to the stock market crash of 1929 to prompt the cutbacks.

Therein lies the rub. Why are lawmakers willing to cut wasteful bureaucracy only in lean times? Why can’t they trim the fat when revenues are plentiful, paving the way for more prosperity?

The answer, of course, is that big government feeds on big government. Stopping the juggernaut is no easy task. More fundamentally, politicians have no reason to act responsibly when voters don’t hold them accountable at the ballot box.

Elected officials are eager to feign fiscal responsibility, but most never follow through unless forced to by a pending economic tsunami (or voter action). That’s why our leaders overlook government waste for years, then suddenly begin anti-pork crusades when it’s politically expedient, typically around election time. Every knight needs a dragon to slay.

A press release announcing Gov. Bev Perdue’s proposed budget, for instance, boasts that it “eliminates or reduces 20 programs that are inefficient, duplicative or costly.” All well and good. Cutting inefficiencies is a worthy pursuit for any organization.

But if these programs are inefficient, duplicative, or costly, why didn’t state government nix them months ago? For that matter, why did they exist in the first place?

These situations underscore why I have no tolerance for complaints from state and local governments about declining revenue. If leaders had run a taut financial ship to begin with, the public purse would not be hit nearly as hard by the economic downturn. And with the spendthrift ways of local governments featured in the news every day, it’s hard to shed too many tears.

The Wake County Board of Education is a good example. School board members are cutting staff in anticipation of a $40 million budget hole. But consider what the board did during flush times: overpay drastically for school construction projects.

In 2007, the school board backed paying $750,000 per acre for land for a new middle school in Rolesville, a Raleigh suburb in northeast Wake County. An appraiser hired by the school district said the land was worth $48,000 per acre. The school board still supported the original deal. Rolesville town leaders stepped in and negotiated down the price on behalf of the school system.

County and city governments continue to ride the spendthrift bandwagon, too. Durham County plans to build a $102 million Human Services Complex and use certificates of participation to pay for it. This amidst massive budget shortfalls.

Or look at Raleigh. The city has set aside up to $180,000 to install a Wi-Fi network in downtown, costing as much as $20,000 in maintenance each year, according to The News & Observer of Raleigh. In the interim, the city operates a circulator bus service that costs $800,000 per year and averages 333 riders a day.

Projects such as these should be the first on the cutting block. Even in good times, lawmakers should differentiate between needs and luxuries. Free Wi-Fi is not a need. It’s a want, and one that we can’t afford.

Despite that fiscal reality, elected officials claim such projects are vital to the progress of our cities and counties. The budgetary house of cards might be tumbling, but we can’t afford to stop investing in our future through these critical projects, they say.

Well, to quote a popular politician, yes we can. At any time, but especially in a recession, government should focus on core services, cut out the frills, and handle taxpayers’ money responsibly.

David N. Bass is an associate editor of Carolina Journal.