Here in Butler County, Ohio we have seen the same financial struggles as rest of the country. County agencies are cutting staff and services are becoming more scarce. With all that going on, there’s one thing that still see’s the money – dues to organizations:

Every year taxpayers foot the bill for county politicians and government employees to join various local, state and federal professional and social organizations.

A JournalNews examination shows Butler County spends hundreds of thousands of dollars annually on dues and expenses, while Warren County in comparison spends a fraction of the amount.

Butler County has faced a number of financial issues and has cut a number of jobs in the past two years because of the economy and large reductions in state and federal funding. The county’s 2012 general fund revenue forecast is $76.9 million; and to make the budget, the county must dip into its cash reserves by about $508,000.

The study by JournalNews finds that taxpayers have spent $516,234 footing the bill for these dues to places like the Chamber of Commerce and different Rotary clubs. In comparison, neighboring Warren County spent $33,657 for these dues. Butler county has almost exactly double the population, yet is spending more than 15 times what Warren County is spending in these fees.

This is the kind of government waste you think the right would be up in arms over, yet Butler county has been under 100% Republican control for decades. We can’t afford to pay sheriffs to protect our property or loved ones, but we sure as hell can make sure that the county auditor has all his memberships to different organizations. What other job pays your dues to outside organizations? None that I can think of.

Butler county has been plagued with waste, fraud and abuse, including the indictment of several former county officials in a federal investigation. All of these people are Republicans. It would be nice if the voters of this county would wake up and realize that it’s time for a change and that having leaders from the other party in the county is a great start to checks and balances. Sadly that won’t happen though. Butler County voters will go to the polls in a few weeks and smile as they touch the screen for anyone with an R by their name and the problems will continue to grow.