Cutting public workers and programs may not be the favorite part of a politician’s job, but like pulling off a Band-Aid, it’s best done quickly, budget watchers say.
That’s because the cost of delay can quickly add up.
“If the budget is to be cut, for most ongoing items, sooner is better than later,” the Maryland General Assembly’s chief fiscal analyst, Warren Deschenaux, told state leaders in a letter.
Money in Maryland’s general fund is spent at a rate of about $39 million a day, $275 million a week and $1.1 billion a month.
“The longer the delay, the proportionately deeper the cut must be to yield the same dollars,” Deschenaux said.
The government of the District, which has roughly one-tenth of Maryland’s population, operates on roughly $14.8 million a day, that is, one-365th of its $5.4 billion general fund.
The District’s fiscal year runs Oct. 1 to Sept. 30, so by late summer the year’s funds are nearly dried up. Cutting the budget in July, city leaders say, is far more complicated than slashing in October when the coffers are flush.
And service cuts are often more severe when taken late in the year.
“It is not prudent to wait, because we are playing with people’s lives,” at-large D.C. Councilman David Catania said in October, when the council faced a meager $131 million shortfall.
Virginia spends about $43 million a day in general fund dollars.
