I recently wrote a letter of recommendation of behalf of AIDS Services of North Texas to be able to apply for a federal grant. In doing so, I decided to look at the most recent budget the County Commissioners Court had adopted. It typically gets some money from the county's budget. That led me to find a disturbing trend. Not only did AIDS Services not receive any funding for FY2010 from the county, it was among 11 agencies that were in the same boat. They received nothing. Not a dime. The budget had a revenue stream of $455,000 to allocate, which was given to only 9 agencies in the "Health Care Relief" section of the budget. They were actually kind enough to give them $455,001. And if I read the budget summary correctly, the county is sitting on an additional $2,435,084 in the Health Care Relief Fund.

     Why is this money being stashed away in an account somewhere, while some agencies are in need of funding? In reading the budget, the revenue in question does not even come from tax dollars, but from settlements and interest. The additional agencies affected are RSVP, ARC, Denton City County Day School, Interfaith Ministries, Boys & Girls Club of Denton County, Metrocrest Social Svc Center, Adult Day Care, Denton Family Resource Center, Family Health Care Inc, and Ann's Haven Hospice. It is trendy to rally against Congress and the President, but you should also ask your county commissioners why our county continues to grow exponentially and our health services remain stagnant and worsening.?

John McClelland?, Little Elm