Osceola County officials and residents have a difficult time ahead in deciding how to fund our various public needs, such as roads, county administration, mass transit, fire service and libraries, just to name a few of the services provided by county government.

We can’t fault county commissioners who argue that we have to raise the county general fund tax rate so that we don’t dig ourselves into a bigger hole for the 2011-12 fiscal year budget due to having to tap cash reserves again to balance the budget in order to prevent any reduction in the quality or quantity of services provided.

On the flip side, we can’t fault commissioners who say now is not the time to force residents to dig deeper into their pockets, especially when the county is going to ask voters Nov. 2 to approve a 1 percent sales surtax to fund transportation projects and after recently passing dramatically higher fire assessments for small businesses. Unfortunately, high overall taxes and fees tend to drive businesses and residents to places where the burden isn’t as heavy.

On one hand, we need a higher county general fund tax rate to rebuild reserves and so we don’t have to consider closing libraries and fire stations next year again and either laying off additional county workers or asking for furloughs. If we don’t raise the tax rate and property values continue to drop or remain flat and as the cost of doing business rises, we’ll reach a point where basic services cannot be provided. On the other hand, higher property taxes and another sales tax would make it harder for residents and businesses to make ends meet.

We certainly need additional money for transportation projects since existing sources are not taking care of our needs and didn’t do so even in good times, requiring a hefty annual subsidy from the general fund.

In general, a sales surtax earmarked for specific road projects – and for mass transit – is something we could support at the ballot box, especially since tourists will be paying it too. We don’t see a need to separate out road and bridge funding from support for SunRail. Also, additional revenue for transportation projects would allow us to reduce the subsidies coming from the general fund – and that means less reliance on property taxes.

Our recommendation is to raise the tax rate to the level proposed Monday so we have something we can bank on and then let voters decide the fate of the 1 percent sales tax.