Halfmoon Township dealt a blow to the entire Centre Region last week when it announced plans to revoke over $21,000 in funding for the Schlow Centre Region Library for 2006.

According to Halfmoon Township officials, the township would love to give more money but it simply cannot afford to do so. Instead pledging $31,000 to the library as officials originally agreed, the funding has been cut to just $10,000 for 2006, with no plans for additional funding beyond next year.

While it is understandable that the township cannot fund the amount to which it originally agreed, it simply should not have not promised the library the funding without an understanding of its financial responsibilities for next year.

Halfmoon Township was not obligated to donate to the library, but it should have notified the library or the body overseeing the library, the Centre Region Council of Governments, earlier. Common courtesy dictates that when someone cannot fulfill expectations, he or she should let everyone else know as soon as possible.

The drop in funding sends a bad message to the other municipalities as well because it appears Halfmoon Township wants to have it both ways -- it wants to cut back donations but continue to enjoy the benefits of having a new, well-funded library a short distance away.

Halfmoon Township is free-riding off the financial support of the other municipalities. The township is giving a significantly smaller portion of the funding it promised the library, but the library has no plans to cut services to the area.

If there are no other ways to work around such hypothetical budget shortfalls, it is extremely fair for the library to consider charging Halfmoon Township , or at the very least their elected officials, to use the library's services.

Perhaps the library's directors could design a special card for the residents of Halfmoon Township, designating them as patrons who must pay to checkout our books and other materials.

While library service should ideally be free, when the funds come up short for this project someone will suffer, and why shouldn't Halfmoon Township have to foot the bill?

At the very least, Halfmoon Township should plan ahead for future years to assure the library adequate funding. Revocation of promised monies does a disservice not only to Halfmoon Township residents but also the Centre Region as a whole.

Such irresponsibility on the part of elected officials should not be tolerated by the public, and each time Halfmoon Township residents visit the new library they should be reminded of the fiscal irresponsibility of their officials.