Living in the COVID-19 World and Beyond #5: How Our Money Is Spent

I imagine all of us have a pretty good idea of how much income we generated last year.   We can see our salary information on our W-2 and we can add up whatever other income there might have been, and we report it when we prepare our taxes.

 We also probably have a decent idea of where we spent money – how much on mortgage or rent, how much on food, how much on travel, etc.   Of course, one major expense for many of us is our taxes.

 For years I have been somewhat aware of what my U.S. federal taxes are being spent on.  I remember having friends in the 1970’s and 1980’s who were tax resisters – refusing to pay their federal taxes in protest against U.S. involvement in foreign wars and the building up of the defense budget.   And I remember discussions about whether something had to be done about the costs of Medicare, Medicaid and Social Security.   And there has been an ever-increasing chorus of concerns about the size of the U.S. deficit, the percentage of the annual U.S. budget that is spent on servicing debt and the burden this will put on future generations of U.S. citizens/taxpayers.   Although I definitely do not have a deep appreciation of the U.S. federal budget, I believe I have a layman’s understanding of the U.S. budget (watching every season of West Wing helps) and I can engage in conversation about it without making a fool of myself. 

Recently, my attention has shifted to my local city budget.   I have started to pay attention there because of the seemingly daily incidents of mistreatment and in some cases unwarranted shooting and killing of black and brown people in the United States by our police departments.    This has been so visible in recent months – it is impossible for me not to take in more information about incident after incident that has occurred.  I continue to be outraged, sadden, and appalled.  Some protestors against violence have called for “defunding the police,” and many more have questioned the relative budgets of the police department versus other services which they argue if better funded might cut into the origins of crime.  

I admit that  I had no idea how my city spent my taxes.  I knew that a lot was spent on education but beyond that I really did not know anything about how our local tax dollars were allocated.    In my city, it turns out that Public Safety (which includes Police, Fire, and Emergency Services) is the 2nd largest budget item (2nd only to education).   I’m glad to know that, glad to be a more informed citizen.   Having this information, and then going deeper and looking at the actual Police budget itself, puts be in a better position to advocate for how I would like to see the city’s budget allocated in the future.

Regardless of one’s position about what is the right thing to do regarding police budgets, I think it behooves each of us  to be informed about how our tax dollars are spent and to be engaged as a citizen to influence that allocation based on our best thinking.

Do you know how your city or town budget is allocated amongst various departments and services?    You can probably find that information on the internet and then start thinking about whether there are any changes in your city’s spending for which you would like to advocate.