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The Independent, Canadian Statesman Weekender, Bowmanville, Saturday, January 29,1994 19 End of Fiscal Year Means Spending Boom for Many Departments The budget year end for governments governments approaches. As crusader Ross Perot says: "Lizzen carefully and yu- u-11 hcer that gii-aant suckin so-ow- nd." That sound is coming from your wallet. It's the time of year when taxpayers taxpayers get taken for a wild ride as departments departments and agencies across the land race to spend any money that remains remains in their budgets. In the next months, departments, all over will order new furniture, upgrade upgrade computers, buy new carpeting, fund new consulting studies, and spend more on travel and conferences. conferences. You name it, but it will be spend, spend, and spend. Outrageous, you, the poor taxpayer, say. Correct. But the mini-spending boom is a ritual that occurs every year about now. Should we blame our politicians? Should we blame the civil servant who, as you read this, is figuring out creative new ways to spend your tax money quickly, freely and loosely? The answer is no. First, the politicians politicians don't understand what is going on. During the next few months, the bureaucracy will present our elected officials with tons of paper detailing a confusing set of complicated options options and plans for operations over the next year. You can safely bet that the system will try to completely overwhelm the politicians with mountains of information that frame next year's budget in terms of more spending and more taxes. As for the government employees who design the spending plans, they are, when you think about it, acting rationally in a budgeting system that automatically favors more spending year after year. It all has to do with incentives. Try this in your organization organization or enterprise. You will pay your managers based on how much they spent to operate the business during the year. You will also pay your managers managers based on the number of employees employees that work for them. Let's look at spending. One of your managers is close to your business's business's fiscal year end. She has not spent all the money in her budget. Alas, she finds a problem - an extra $50,000 unspent in her budget. She could save the money, but next year her budget would be reduced by $50,000. Should anyone wonder why she rushes out before year end and blows $50,000 on new furniture. Second, we also set the pay of our managers in this imaginary business partially . by how many employees they manage. No surprise. We now find empire-building and over- staffing. Suddenly, everyone is hiring more workers. What would happen? The business business now has strong incentives to raise spending on operations and hire more employees. Costs rise relentlessly. relentlessly. With these incentives the busi- Valentine's Day Cards Appeared in England During Early 1800s Sending Valentine's Day cards is a favourite longstanding tradition, but one. that has changed drastically over the centuries. Today, Canadians will likely send out several . Valentine cards and happily receive as many. It is, after all, the second most popular card sending occasion in Canada, following following Christmas. But Hallmark historians historians note that once upon a time, the idea of sending out Valentine's cards with abandon would have been considered shocking, even somewhat amoral. For much of the 18th and 19th century in Britain, St. Valentine's Day was only for lovebirds and receiving receiving a Valentine's Day card was the equivalent of nothing less than a sincere marriage proposal. Usually, only men bought such cards and in doing so they made both an emotional emotional and a financial commitment. The first commercial cards which appeared appeared in England in the early 1800s were extremely expensive, and very elaborate. These, cards were decorated decorated with intricate bead work, mirrors, exotic feathers, and some had mechanical mechanical moving parts activated by pulling a tab. During this era, St. Valentine's Valentine's Day was not a lighthearted affair. In 1849, Esther Howland of Wor- chester, MA, became the first North American publisher of Valentine cards. Her hand-made cards, fashioned fashioned in British style with imported papers and decorations, were also costly. i Soon after, the famous printer Louis Prang of Boston, who brought lithography to perfection, began producing producing cards for sweethearts, using as many as 20 colours in his mini works of art. Children across North America, inspired by the romance and colour of St. Valehtine's Day, eventually discovered their own ways to participate participate in the holiday. They started by making cards in the shape of hearts for their parents mid teachers. It was Hallmark which made commercial Valentine's Day cards affordable, and soon the occasion evolved into a celebration of friendship and family love, as much as romantic love. Hallmark research shows in Cana- - da, Valentine cards celebrating friendship now outrank romantic cards by almost three to one. Valentine's Day tokens arc another another age-old tradition that remain popular with Canadians. However, the types of gifts exchanged for the occasion have changed much over time. In days gone by, women may have received gloves, garters and sometimes jewelry from their husbands husbands on February 14. Today, favourite favourite Valentine tokens include flowers, chocolates and small fun novelty items, such as Hallmark's little popup popup teddy bear. Hallmark research shows that more than half of all such offerings are purchased for friends and family, especially children. Cottage Season Arrives Feb. 4th At Trade Centre More than 250 exhibitors specializing specializing in items specifically for the cottage cottage are busy preparing for the 4th Annual Cottage Show February 4-6, 1994 at the Metro East Trade Centre in Pickering. "If it's for the cottage, it's at The Cottage Show," says Show Director Ron Cowan. The Show offers one- stop shopping for cottage owners or for those thinking of buying their first cottage. By bringing together the "true cottage cottage experts" at The Cottage Show, Cowan has ensured that cottagers are able to comparison shop in one venue for the best selection and prices for all of their cottage needs. The Cottage Show houses under one roof as many cottage industry experts experts as possible - from realtors to. contractors, log home builders and renovators to dock builders, as well as exhibitors of boats, canoes, hot tubs, wood stoves, home furnishings and outdoor clothing. Of course, cottage country contractors contractors eager to build your dream cottage will be in attendance, as will cottage country realtors exhibiting property listings from across Ontario. "This year we will be emphasizing emphasizing the under $99,000 cottage," says Cowan. "There are a lot of quality cottage properties available, and they're closer and more affordable now than people think. There arc deals out there." The success and growth of The Cottage Show over the past four years is, due largely to a growing trend in the consumer exposition industry industry - shows that arc directed at specific target markets. ness spends its way to bankruptcy. Governments tend not to go bankrupt. bankrupt. They just load the bills for perverse perverse spending and hiring incentives onto overloaded taxpayers. This is one defect of many in a system of unnecessarily unnecessarily expensive- government. And we all pay through the nose for it. It's called "spend it or lose it" budgeting. Only in government. It's one reason the system bamboozles our elected officials into raising taxes instead of, for example, spending our tax money smarter. The stakes are just too high. People's salaries and rank in the civil service are at stake. Therefore, the system has every incentive incentive to present options to our elected officials that involve more taxes. It is a system that has every in centive to make spending cuts as painful as possible (Filmon Fridays, Rae Days, trim fire and police, chop welfare for the poor, etc.). That is why "spend it or lose it" budgeting has to go. Paul Pagnuelo "Let's Talk Taxes" is a feature service of the Ontario Taxpayers Federation. ACCOUNTANCY CHIROPRACTIC HOME SERVICE WILLIAM C. HALL B. Comm. Chartered Accountant 35 King St. W., Newcastle Telephone 987-4240 DR. LAURENCE A. GREY D.C., N.D Chiropractic, Naturopathic and Homeopathic Clinic 255 King St. E. Oshawa, Ont. 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