To the editor:

The June 9 edition of Leader Publications reported the Cass County Board of Commissioners was considering a hiring freeze because state revenue sharing was being cut by a third.

The county board would be wise to instead consider spending a small portion of the $15.8 million of unrestricted net cash shown in the county financial statements.

While $3 million of the excess Cass County cash is being held to give the county a higher credit rating, a high credit rating should not be a priority for a county like Cass without much debt.

Besides, since state revenue sharing has never been more than $1 million for Cass County, perhaps it is time for Cass County to spend some of the remaining $12.8 million of cash and avoid the appearance of holding too much cash without a planned purpose.

Holding so much cash is also a pretty good reason for the state to cut Cass County’s revenue sharing by a third.

David P. Taylor

Edwardsburg