North Myrtle Beach living above its means
I recently received the 2016 Annual Report for North Myrtle beach. Nice document, glossy photos, 17 pages summarizing our great accomplishments. I have to admit that it made me proud to be a member of this community. And then I got to page 19, and there, in black and white, was our financial picture.
Seems that our accomplishments come at a significant cost and that our operating expenses are nearly $4 million above our revenues, with the deficit made up from loans. In other words, we seem to be living well above our means but, unlike the federal government, we can't print new money. Unfortunately, I could find no additional details since the comprehensive 2016 fiscal year is not accessible on the website - despite what it says in the report.
Obviously, this deficit spending needs to stop and, at the very least, the public needs to see budgeted numbers in the annual report, especially for the public service component. We can do better.
John Bourassa, North Myrtle Beach
This story was originally published April 5, 2017 at 7:30 AM with the headline "North Myrtle Beach living above its means."