The security breach at the Department of Revenue offers a unique opportunity for us taxpayers to recover some of our tax dollars.
In the wake of this unprecedented security disaster, the state has provided us with free credit monitoring for a year and lifetime fraud resolution. But security expert and South Carolina resident (and inspiration for the movie “Catch Me If You Can”) Frank Abagnale, Jr. recommends that we all continue to pay for credit monitoring for more than a year because none of these cyber criminals try to use stolen data within the first year. They wait a few years and then they sell it.
So, for whatever these services are worth, the state is giving us some “free” security tools. But they’re not really free. The state is buying them with our money. It’s not as though the state government makes any money on its own. It only has what it takes from us in taxes. The bill for the security we’ve been promised so far is already at $12 million. If they decide to provide us with anymore protection (enough to actually protect us) that number will go up.
How is the state going to pay for this?
A couple of ideas have been proposed by the State Treasurer’s Office to cover the costs until state lawmakers go back into session. One is to let the Department of Revenue run a deficit, so it could pay the bills until state lawmakers pass a new spending plan. Another suggestion is to have the state loan the money to the Department of Revenue. But why are we talking about loans or running deficits when, according to the State Auditor’s Office, the state already has over a billion dollars in taxpayer dollars available in their piggy bank?
Hundreds of millions of taxpayer dollars are spread throughout our state government agencies and institutions as unrestricted net assets – surplus resources that can be used for any purpose. As of June 30, 2011, the Governor’s office had about $5 million in unrestricted net assets. The State of South Carolina has $1.5 billion. There’s plenty more socked away throughout various agencies and all of that is in addition to the state’s two rainy day funds (the General Reserve Fund and the Capital Reserve Fund).
Our state government has literally taken more of our money than it knows what to do with. At least now some of that money can be put to good use for the taxpayer. Spend some of those assets on cyber security for the taxpayers who have had their identities and the identities of their children put at risk.
Of course, this is less than ideal. Ideally, our government wouldn’t take more of our money than it knew what to do with. Ideally, taxpayers wouldn't have to have their identities compromised before they could see their tax dollars again. Ideally, when the government “saved” money, that money would go back to the taxpayer instead of back into the government.
The problem isn’t just that the state government is hoarding our money, but that, when determining what to do with these surplus funds, returning them to the taxpayer isn’t even considered.
South Carolina needs to lower our state taxes, which are among the highest in the nation, and create a taxpayer rebate fund so that budget surpluses go back to the taxpayer instead of into government piggy banks.
The DOR’s poor protection of our personal data and its inept response to this massive security breach should remind us all that government officials tend to be poor stewards of our money and should not be trusted with anymore of it than absolutely necessary. But while they’ve got it, let’s make sure they’re spending it on our protection.
Roy Harmon of Travelers Rest is a candidate for State House District 17.