Whether budgeting for home, city or country, outlining what is ideal is the most important step towards creating it and the next is removing all impediments. A Strategic Plan is an active document which adapts to changes without losing sight of the target. Hence, this target or goal must be well thought out, measurable and attainable. For example, an individual may set a personal goal to retire from physical work at age sixty, with a pension income that remains at double their living expenses and unencumbered assets to maintain their life-style. Similarly, with Public Funds the goals and objectives must be to generate revenue through diverse economic activities to meet its recurrent expenditure and constantly seek to improve, through capital investment programs, the standard of living for (all) its people.The strategic plan must address revenue generation, from both traditional sources and future opportunities, while constantly improving the collection mechanism efficiency. In the case of the individual, traditional work ranges from manual effort (if physically able) to highly skilled task (if trained), while future development comes from life experiences. Taxes, in one form or another is the main revenue source for funding public activities. Setting tax rates and guidelines is an academic exercise, it is in the collection of due taxes where most problems arise. It is now widely accepted that a sales tax or value added tax is the most efficient way to collect public revenue. Corporation tax is reduced, inviting more business investment and creating employment, as a result of a more effective collection system. Personal tax, which is the most difficult to collect, can be reduced and in some cases removed entirely. With only business records to examine, for sale tax and corporation tax, the expense associated with Inland Revenue operations can also be reduced.
The strategic plan must speak to expenditure, in the context of the preset goals and objectives. Controlling non-productive activities by putting in place deterrents must not be limited to matters that reach under the control of the judiciary or any national security agency; crime can only be minimized through strong morals. The individual with a keen sense of right and wrong will not waste time or money on activities they perceive to be non-productive. So to should it be, when it comes to public expenditure, do not fund what does not work. Adequately funding an early intervention family (children services) unit, that response quickly to reports of children at risk, and a network of safe interim homes, where children can be removed from the immediate danger, will give better results and save children from a life of crime.
Supporting productive activities with incentives in many cases involves furthering education and competitive sport. The individual has long recognized that awards are short-lived and rewards have a longer life-span. Success has been found through rewarding healthy life-styles. Tax credits for active gym members, non-smokers and for participating in non-competitive sport. This is almost certain to reduce any allocation to public health services, while increasing productivity.
Capital spending must promote revenue generation. Building a bridge to nowhere or a skyscraper for no tenants is the same as putting the cart before the horse. The individual knows that if six petroleum engineers are needed locally and thirty-six are graduating each year that is not the best use of public funds. Business activities must be the driving force to infrastructural projects. Funding foreign investment agencies to attract business is by far cheaper and those investors will drive the improvements for both business and (all) the people.
Rationale
T.A.J & Associates Company Limited uses this occasion to comment on topics that have been covered, both academically and by the mainstream media, to add its opinion and point out investment opportunity, not to invoke any social action.
