A government should keep enough money in the bank to make sure it can pay its bills and make payroll on time and that it can withstand most emergency costs that might arise.

It shouldn’t stockpile taxpayers’ cash better spent on providing services to the public. If a government’s provided all the services its officials think it can or should provide and it’s still bankrolling cash, it probably ought to cut taxes.

That’s why we like the Alpena Municipal Council’s policy for city coffers, which says the city should keep enough in the bank to cover 10% of its annual expenses, but not more than 20%.

Currently, because of conservative spending over the uncertainty of the coronavirus pandemic, the city’s sitting on enough money to cover about 38% of expenses.

But officials think it’s time to spend that money and have put together a 2023 budget plan that would draw down cash savings to cover needed infrastructure projects around the city, including funding for restrooms at Bay View Park, a redesign of Culligan Plaza, new police cars, and many water, sewer, and street projects.

If the city council approves all of the projects (a public hearing is scheduled for 6 p.m. tonight), the city would still have about $3.2 million in the bank, enough to cover about 28% of the city’s $11.3 million budget. More projects could be in the works for the 2024 budget, but city officials want to wait to see what will happen with revenue and expenses leading up to that point.

That’s exactly how a government should act.

We say thanks to Alpena city leaders for acting as good stewards of our finances.

And we urge every reader who’s able to attend tonight’s council meeting to tell councilmembers how you feel about the proposed projects and the plan to draw down savings to accomplish them.