As Art Linkletter used to tell us, kids say the darnedest things.

So do department heads.

In both the public and the private sectors, department heads muster mighty annual arguments for increasing their budgets. Private businesses deal with those arguments rigorously. In times of prosperity, good business leaders demand that any additional expense be accompanied by equal or greater revenue. In times of financial strife? That's a different story. Department heads are instructed not to waste anyone's time by proposing increased expenses.

Because they're using other people's money, the public sector should be even more rigorous - but it isn't. With some exceptions - North Idaho College has seen explosive growth and therefore is justified in increasing expenses reasonably - public entities generally seek more when they should be finding ways to deal with less.

We're longtime admirers of the way the city of Post Falls is managed, but we gulped hard when we read that city leaders are considering raising property taxes 2 or 3 percent this year. The primary reason given was that managers are afraid they'll lose employees, people who have gone two years without raises and had to work harder because a hiring freeze has been in effect during that time.

The justification is that it costs the city a lot to replace departing workers. Better to spread a little wealth now to prevent the masses from jumping ship, the logic goes.

Sorry, but we don't buy it.

These are tough times, when taxpayers' greatest assets have lost value for several years in a row while their incomes have been level or reduced if they've been lucky enough to keep their jobs at all. And frankly, few statements will incite more taxpayer anger than this one: "We need to stay competitive with pay of other municipalities." Taxpayers already are frustrated because they see public employees' pay and benefits exceeding similar jobs in the private sector.

The answer isn't to increase taxes. The answer is that governmental entities must figure out ways to manage smarter. That means like the business world, they must find ways to provide good service with fewer resources.

Across-the-board raises make little sense in any economic climate, but we believe some payroll dollars should be reserved to retain key employees. Even then, there are other effective ways to manage.

Survey after survey shows that money alone doesn't buy employee happiness. Governmental leaders must work harder than ever to find creative ways to keep their best employees on board and focused. We know it's tough, balancing the needs of struggling taxpayers with the wants of employees, but that's what leadership is all about.