OUR VIEW: Why the rush to create a real estate assessor job?

» The Culpeper County Board of Supervisors needed to allow for more discussion on the matter.

The Board of Supervisors voted last week to create a position dedicated to the assessment of Culpeper County real estate taxes.

Many counties have similar positions, so the move is nothing new. In many cases, it means you have a person in the field regularly and are able to bring in additional revenue by catching up on new construction and added value that may not be realized without site visits and actual inspections.

The real problem with this move is the way it was handled. As far as we can tell, the position, which has already been filled internally, wasn’t advertised so that other employees could apply. It almost appears as though there had been discussion held privately and this was a done deal.

The public discussion, it seems, was just a formality.

No one has alleged any violations of sunshine laws — technically, the board met legal requirements by correctly advertising the public hearing — but shouldn’t a position that could pay upward of $100,000 be the subject of a little more discussion than several minutes at one single meeting?

In these tight budgetary times, the answer is an obvious yes.

(For more insight on the matter, we suggest reading the guest column June 2 by Terry Yowell, commissioner of the revenue.)

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FUNDING FOR ROADS: It appears as though budgetary shortfalls in state and local government will mean that only a limited number of road projects will move forward in the near future.

Despite massive federal spending, money is tight everywhere else — town, county and state — and when it comes to balancing budgets, priorities have to be set.

The Virginia Department of Transportation knows that challenge very well. Every agency and locality has needs, but there is only so much to go around.

We trust local and state officials to look long and hard at traffic patterns and all data to decide where limited transportation funds can do the most good.