Balancing the books; Scrutiny of accounts, hard spending choices pay off.

COLUMN: In our opinion

Balancing Worcester's books in tough economic times is never easy, so the city administration deserves credit for closing out fiscal 2008 while avoiding red ink.

Finishing the fiscal year that ended June 30 in the black, with minimal bookkeeping shuffles, was important in light of what promises to be a still more challenging fiscal 2009. Making the numbers behave in the year now under way will require the more of the same kind of discipline and scrutiny that served taxpayers well for the year just concluded.

Worcester's success cannot be tied to any one factor, but is the result of savings realized through health insurance reforms, increased rates of recycling, restructuring and leaving selected noncritical positions unfilled.

It also entailed giving the city's financial books a thorough examination to identify accounts that contained unexpended balances. As in most communities, Worcester has a certain number of spending authorizations on the books that, in the course of time, go unused or even forgotten. Careful accounting is needed to ensure that such monies are used for their intended purpose or, if no longer needed, returned to the general revenue fund.

Cities and towns don't enjoy the largely unchecked taxing and borrowing power of the federal government, and the city has taken considerable heat for the health insurance reforms that helped balance its books this time around. But the larger message is clear: Fiscal discipline helped Worcester keep its fiscal balance in the challenging year past and will be a crucial element of the city's success in the future.