Now is a challenging time for anyone to be relying on the stock market and when it comes to county government, this shouldn’t even be part of the equation when it comes to operating.

Instead, the Lawrence County government recently learned that it would likely only earn about $500,000 on its investments this year, about $200,000 less than leaders had hoped.

This is disappointing news, but not entirely unexpected as the nation continues to struggle through perilous economic times.

But it may also be illustrative of the larger problem: the county government continues to use one-time funds, projected revenue and wishful thinking to operate.

As county officeholders and officials begin to work on a new budget, now is time to develop a plan that doesn’t rely on investment interest and other intangibles to make ends meet.

It won’t be easy — tough decisions will have to be made that will likely include cutting staff and potentially cutting services — but that is what the Lawrence County Commissioners and the various officeholders were elected to do.

The problems have been discussed for years. The warnings have been issued. Enough changes still haven’t been made.

The county must continue to look to invest its funds and leverage its money, but this revenue should be considered part of a “rainy-day fund” that isn’t used until after it has already been collected and counted.

Right now, the stock market is just too unstable and unpredictable to bank the county’s future on. That approach won’t move the county forward and will only continue to mask the problems that have existed for years.

And that is a fact that won’t change no matter what the market does.