Common sense isn't very common

Greetings,
Well, on Monday June 30th I had to send in all of the signatures I'd gathered for Initiative 1030 which was designed to lower property taxes 30% across the state. I think that between the signatures I got personally and the ones I mailed to people, I helped gather about 4-500 names total. I really hope we got enough signatures to qualify for the general election, but if we didn't make it at least we tried. We didn't just sit back and bitch, we actually tried to do something about Washington states bottomless pit of out of control taxation..
Besides, even if we didn't get all the signatures we needed, I truly believe that we sent a major message to the legislature that there are a lot of people out here that are just fed up. And who knows what seeds may sprout from our efforts. I sure compliment Wynn Cannon, the League of Washington Taxpayers and all the individuals who worked on this campaign. I think that participating in our political system is a right and a privilege and a very important part of being an American citizen.
Moving right along, I have an idea that potentially could be a very positive thing for taxpayers everywhere. After spending 5 years working for the City of Tacoma, I noticed that at the end of each fiscal year, there is a mad scramble to spend whatever was left in each department's annual budget so that they wouldn't get any less the following year.There are absolutely no incentives for coming in under budget
I think that every public, tax funded organization including schools, police, fire, libraries as well as local, state and federal agencies should be forced to implement a program similar to what already exists in many corporations. My idea is simply to offer a variety of percentage based cash bonus programs for ideas that can and do save money each of these public agencies . For example, if John Smith, the local librarian or Jane Doe, a local police officer, comes up with a cost saving idea, they would receive a cash bonus for that suggestion. It would be an excellent first step to developing a sense of pride within public agencies that would be based on saving money, and not just constantly striving to spend more and more money each year.
To me it just sounds like common sense. But maybe it's true that common sense isn't so common after all.
Be well, Pat