IF CAPE GIRARDEAU COUNTY NEEDS PUBLICLY FUNDED TRANSPORATION, ASK TAXPAYERS FOR THE MONEY

With no shortage of worthy causes and projects on which to spend its money, it is curious that the Area Wide United Way wants to give the Cape Girardeau County Commission $20,000. While certainly a generous offer, the county hasn't fallen on such hard times that it needs financial support from a charitable organization to pursue endeavors important to its citizens.

Late last month, the United Way offered the funds -- $10,000 a year over two years -- to the commission. The money would pay part of the salary for a coordinator to oversee a county transit authority.

The county may indeed need a transit authority, and someone to run it. And private-public partnerships can be beneficial for a community. However, it is doubtful United Way supporters, who underwrite the organization's myriad good works, intended their generous contributions to be turned over to an entity that is amply funded by taxpayers.

After months of study, a United Way task force identified transportation as one of the region's more pressing needs. This wasn't a surprise. Public transportation needs have been widely discussed for years. United Way officials say the offer was made as an incentive for the commission to move forward on the appointment of a transit authority. Indeed, they hope the commission will turn down the offer and hire a transit coordinator with its own money.

This would be the best option for the commission. Though well-intentioned, funding county operations is a role for taxpayers, not the United Way.