Twenty dollars won’t buy you a tank of gas anymore.

It won’t stretch much beyond bread, milk and a frozen pizza or two at the grocery store.

And it certainly won’t clothe your child for a day.

In today’s economy, $20 just isn’t worth much.

But $20 can buy a vote or two dozen. It does stretch far and wide when it comes to political appeal. And it will up your popularity with the masses.

Just ask the Adams County Board of Supervisors.

The board worked hard, by all accounts, to find a way in this year’s budget to decrease taxes.

Decreasing taxes — those are politically golden words.

Due in part to an increased tax roll, and likely in part to closely watched spending, the supervisors had money left over in their budgeting process.

That’s awesome. It’s great that our county is doing well financially, and I’m glad we have elected officials who know how to save.

But instead of smart saving and smart spending, the board has opted to squander the extra money by giving it back — mostly in less than $20 increments — to the public.

The savings will come through your ad valorem taxes. You’ll save $2 per car tag. And if your house has a value of $100,000, you’ll save $10. If it’s worth $200,000, you’ll save $20.

Now, a Cranfield Road resident might be able to fill his lawnmower with gas — once.

A Morgantown Road couple can head to Ruby Tuesday for the night, as long as they don’t buy drinks or dessert.

A State Street animal lover can buy the expensive cat food this week.

All the while, the county won’t have the collective sum from the tax cuts — approximately $184,000 — to spend on us, the taxpayer.

We pay taxes for a number of reasons — to fund public programs, to pay our elected and appointed leaders and to keep county offices up and running, to name a few.

And though the masses who fear government overspending are most likely right, the flip side leaves us — the public — with no public services, no parks, no courthouse.

We elect our local officials to appropriately spend our money. Whether we voted for them or not, we owe them a certain level of respect and trust once they are in office. Without that trust, our governmental system doesn’t work.

It’s not necessary for our supervisors to grant us a $20 tax refund just to say they did. We trust them to use the lump sum — $184,000 — in the best way, instead of dividing the pie into so many pieces there is nothing left to taste.

The need for county-funded projects is great in Adams County right now.

We need recreation. We need recycling. We need road work.

Having $184,000 may not pay for a recreation facility, a recycling program or a road department to-do-list, but it can surely make a good dent.

Having $20 won’t get the average taxpayer much of anything.

The cut is a done deal this year. But hopefully the supervisors — all newly elected or re-elected — can get out from under the campaign promise brain fog soon and learn to make our money go further than the lawn mower, Ruby Tuesday or the cat food aisle.

We’ve trusted them to be smart with our money, not to buy our votes with a mere 20 bucks.

Julie Cooper is the managing editor of The Natchez Democrat. She can be reached 601-445-3551 or julie.cooper@natchezdemocrat.com.