We've often said in this space that the sole purpose of government is to provide services using taxpayer money effectively and efficiently. The primary objective of government is not to be an employer. If carrying out the mission requires hiring people to fulfill its duties, it should do so.

But a recent story reporting that New York state wants retroactive payments from Clinton, Essex and Franklin counties to pay their share for the state's Office of Children and Family Services has us scratching our heads. It's more than just paying to house the troubled youths, though.

The bills stem from the counties sending troubled youths to under-utilized state detention facilities, such as the Adirondack Youth Center in Schuyler Falls, at a high cost. The counties and the state equally share the financial burden for housing the young people.

But under-utilization is an understatement. There are only 958 youths housed in the state's youth-detention facilities today, down from 2,223 in 2000. There are 511 empty beds in these institutions. These days, counties opt for less-expensive services when available and many at-risk youths are being kept in programs closer to their homes.

But the rub is that even though many beds are empty, facilities remain open, driving up costs to taxpayers. The state's planning to close several of these facilities, including the one in Schuyler Falls, but due to agreements with labor unions, the closures will take up to 12 months. Meanwhile, the cost of operating these institutions continues, even though usage is way down.

One stark example: In Cattaraugus County, a youth-detention facility has 25 beds — every one of them empty. But because of union contracts, the staff remains on the job. It's no wonder the state is on the ropes, fiscally.

Certainly, we don't condone putting government employees out on the street for no reason. In private enterprise, when there's no work, people get laid off or furloughed from their jobs. But in government, especially state government where many sectors of employees belong to labor unions, it's a far different story. How labor contracts get negotiated in this fashion is puzzling.

And who suffers as a result? The taxpaying public.

The youth-services bills for our three counties aren't new, we're told —the state is just catching up on levying the charges. The state should have been billing all along instead of suddenly hitting up the counties.

When under-utilized services, buildings and labor are allowed to continue for the sake of employees, it's just not right. We think there are better ways to spend taxpayer dollars.