What should a sheriff (or mayor or governor or any other official) do when the federal government dangles more than $200,000 for the asking.

Most, apparently including Warren County Sheriff Martin Pace, would say “thanks” and take it?

A few, including District 5 supervisor Richard George, this year’s board president, would pause and think not just about where to get the $50,000 matching money or how to have it waived, but whether the allocation would remedy a local need and, if so, what the ongoing costs would be and whether they could be justified, too.

George has the better view.

Billions of dollars are pouring out of Washington in the name of national security and economic stimulus. A lot is coming this way. Not every project has clear linkage. For example, more than $10 million to replace the short bridge at the entrance to the Port of Vicksburg and nearly $3 million to clean vegetation and debris from creeks is arriving in the name of Hurricane Katrina relief. No problem. Both projects have long range implications for jobs, health, quality of life, improving the tax base and such.

The $204,375 being offered through the state office of the Department of Homeland Security is for a boat and other equipment to be used on the Mississippi and its tributaries by the sheriff’s department. A roadblock has been the requirement of  $51,093.75 in local money, which George points out is not in the budget.

It is incredibly tempting to take “free money” and seems incredibly shortsighted to refuse it. But at some point, the tap is going to have to be turned off. In case no one knows it, the federal government is way past broke and can’t spend a dime without borrowing it and pledging that our children, grandchildren and great-grandchildren will pay it back.

Pace is an exceptionally good sheriff who has never wanted anything but the best for the people in his department and the citizens they serve. That’s beyond question.

The fact is, however, that “river patrol” is already handled well by state and federal agencies, such as the Department of Wildlife, Fisheries and Parks and the U.S. Coast Guard. Also, response to river emergencies, including tow break-ups, fires and drownings, such as the one last weekend, is best done by boats already on the river, some of them private, including those of Ergon Marine.

A quarter-million dollars will buy a lot of boat. Staffing, maintenance, fuel costs would be substantial.

The county’s answer will be difficult, but it should be, “no thanks.”