It's nice to see that Mower County is no longer atop the state auditor's list of having the highest unreserved fund balance in the Minnesota.

But county commissioners still haven't done enough. Taxpayer money is still being hoarded at a rate much higher than the state average.

That's just plain unacceptable.

Now, all Mower County commissioners have to do is to keep listening to what local citizens have been pleading these last few years: spend down the county's reserves.

Clearly, the commissioners have heard, but moving at a snail's pace doesn't cut it when local families can use the money the county is banking to help them make ends meet.

It's always a good idea to have extra money in the bank. However, the state auditor's office said a few years ago that Mower County was taking that meaning too far. From the 2000 unreserved fund balances, the state average was 43.3 percent.

Mower County's average? A staggering 134.5 percent.

An upcoming state auditor's report will reveal if commissioners are still listening to their constituents by spending down these reserves on much-needed projects.

We're not advocating spending all of the reserves until there's none left. However, it's important that commissioners get these reserves down to a normal level.