'Now can we put up taxes?'
THINK you can do a better job than your deputies? Now they’re giving you the chance to do so.
The pros – you don’t have to risk your reputation on actually standing for election. The cons – you won’t get paid for your insights, whether they work or not.
The special States sub-committee which is looking to save between £10-16m. a year, wants, maybe needs, your help to achieve its goal.
‘It’s a unique opportunity to bring ideas to the table,’ it says today. ‘We hope this different approach will demonstrate our commitment that no idea will be left off the table.’
Of course there’s the tiniest chance that someone will present a good idea that gets activated. But islanders might reason that the real intent behind this approach is to demonstrate that even the loud-mouthed public, full of bluster on social media, can’t, between them, come up with a single idea that’s going to work to help bring down States spending. And that'll be official.
The people with inside knowledge of what’s going on in the public sector, are asking those of us who know next to nothing, to tell them what we want to cut, so we can be told that it can’t be done.
And we don’t know just how much removing any given service might save.
‘We told you so,’ the committee might encourage the States to conclude. ‘Now will you agree to put up taxes?’