Note: It is our goal at One Martin to provide reliable, fact-based information so citizens can be better informed about our government and community.
Numbers don’t lie – but you have to take the time to understand what they stand for before you judge.
Take Martin County’s debt, for example. You could get all bent out of shape because the county’s debt per capita is about $835. That number is a measurement of the value of Martin Conty’s debt expressed in terms of the amount attributable to each citizen in our community. May seem high if you don’t think about it in context. Kudos to the Martin County Taxpayers Association (MCTA) for digging into the numbers and determining that Martin County is a real bargain compared to other places. The Martin County Board of County Commissioners’ pay-as-you-go financing philosophy is paying dividends and setting us apart in a good way.
We commend both the Taxpayer’s Association and county government for doing the right thing. Check out the MCTA’s column below that appeared in a recent edition of Friends & Neighbors of Martin County.
Read before you judge.
Sincerely,
Rick Hartman
Understanding Martin County Debt
When you consider that the per capita net debt of the Federal government is, as of Jan. 6, 2024, $102,409.00, Martin County is a bargain at $835.37 per capita. It did not happen by accident. The county adopted “a conscious effort to maintain a strong pay-as-you- go financing philosophy “
Still $133,610,903 seemed like a lot of money so the MCTA sat down with Don Donaldson, the County Administrator, and Stephanie Merle, the Director of the Office of Management and Budget, to gain an understanding of the ins and outs of the debt. We appreciated the time, knowledge and insight which they shared with us.
