It’s patently obvious some Beaufort County commissioners didn’t know what they were cutting last week when a majority of the board voted informally to eliminate funding for a handful of nonprofits and outside interests.

In an interview this week, Commissioner Al Klemm, one of the board members who voted for the cuts, indicated he wasn’t sure what two of the nonprofits do.

The nonprofits about whose missions Klemm was unsure were the Washington Community Care Coalition and the Elizabeth City-based Food Bank of the Albemarle.

The WCCC helps supply food for needy people.

The food bank provides low-cost, bulk-buying options for charitable pantries, including Eagle’s Wings of Washington.

The WCCC was allocated $2,500 by the county in the current fiscal year.

The food bank received $1,000 from the county in this fiscal year.

Asked if he knows what the food bank does, Klemm responded with a question of his own. He asked whether this nonprofit is the one that gives out food for area families’ Christmas dinners.

The short answer is, “No.” The Christmas-dinner supplies come from the WCCC.

We have two observations about the board majority’s decision to defund these nonprofits.

First, it’s irresponsible for elected officials to vote on an item as important as public funding before reaching a full understanding of what’s beneath their metaphorical ax.

Second, the county’s allocations to these nonprofits is such a small portion of the overall budget that the commissioners’ only excuse for cutting them must be pure meanness.

These strikes to local nonprofits are short-sighted and ill-considered, and should be revisited.

We’re on record as asserting the commissioners should do whatever they can to avoid or minimize a property tax increase this year, but purely political cuts that don’t do much to affect the bottom line are divisive and gratuitous.