Taxes pay for things we need

No one likes paying taxes but most of us are adults about the matter and understand that in a big, complex society government needs to provide certain services. The folks down in the anti-tax hotbed of Colorado Springs are learning this lesson the hard way.

The Denver Post reports,

COLORADO SPRINGS — El Paso County Sheriff Terry Maketa can't sleep at night.

On any given day, seven deputies patrol a county that spans 2,158 square miles — almost 50 miles from north to south, and 45 miles wide from east to west. Backup is 35 minutes away.

"Sometimes," Maketa says, "there is no backup at all."

In this county, where Republicans outnumber Democrats 2-to-1, where the Taxpayer's Bill of Rights was first approved by Colorado Springs voters, and where people value small government, the county is facing a fiscal crisis.

Some of the highlights:

At the jail, 148 inmates live in a tent because there's no room for them inside, where each deputy is responsible for an average of 67 inmates — well above the informal national standard of one deputy for 50 inmates. There is a need for more than 400 maximum-security beds and 860 jail beds to meet needs for the next 10 years...

For months, most county offices have been open four days a week. County commissioners decided in December to close the offices one day a week to save money on utility bills...

The Food and Drug Administration recommends the county have 15 food inspectors. It has eight inspectors, who are unable to inspect food establishments at least twice a year, as required by the state...