To the Editor:

The Beaufort County Democrats, Republicans, taxpayers, teachers, street crews, foster parents and day care beneficiaries should all say NO! And say it as loudly as we can.

Last week we were admonished to passively sit through the county budget process and simply trust the men who put us here to get us out of this. Like well-behaved children, we should sit at the little table, while the grown-ups carve another Christmas goose. Not likely.

The county board has overseen the enormous cost overruns in the school construction program. Every bit of it carries an ongoing interest cost. It has allowed the hospital construction to so encumber the credit of the county that the county is now forced to sell a 50-year investment in local health care just as the renovation is completed. The Industrial Parks stand empty and incomplete. For years the industrial parks have been an idle $6,000,000 investment.

The Prospectus for the 2008 General Obligation School Bonds of  Beaufort County notes on page 9, “Currently a new industrial park is being constructed which includes commitments to relocate from a major industry, South Tech Plastics.” In 2011, the Chocowinity Industrial Park still sits empty after $2,000,000 of investment and years of interest payments.

If county residents want to understand how we have become so cash strapped, then reread the two paragraphs above. The Beaufort County Board of Commissioners signed off on all of it.

This leaves residents facing a $45,000 cut in day care to working families, $24,500 in cuts to foster care, employee furloughs … and a 10-percent tax hike. By the way, we need to exit a bad real-estate investment to even make this work.

“If you want more of what you’ve got, keep doing what you did.”

I am voting NO regardless of how they work it out. Enough is enough. How bad can the next crew be?

WARREN SMITH

Washington