The current discussion about who should pay for crossing guards and resource officers who work in the Lawrence school district is a sure sign that tax money is getting tight.

In good times, the question of whether the school district or the city should pay between $300,000 and $350,000 for these services likely wouldn’t be an issue, but when money is tight and taxpayers are urging city officials to look at every possible economy, expenditures like these sometimes get put on the table.

Ironically, whether the city or school district picks up the tab makes little difference to most local residents. Either way, they, the taxpayers, are the ones who foot the bill. The current issue, however, is a test of local government cooperation in difficult financial times.

At issue now are the salaries for 14 part-time crossing guards and six full-time school resource officers. City officials have a point that these positions are closely tied to the operation of local schools. But it’s also arguable that they serve the community at large by ensuring the safety of children walking to school and providing a stabilizing police presence in the district’s high schools and junior highs.

Sometimes, it’s difficult to separate the school benefit from the community benefit. As School Superintendent Randy Weseman points out, it would be difficult, for instance, to maintain the city’s parks and recreation programs without the use of gymnasiums and other school facilities.

Another example of city-school cooperation has been funding for the WRAP (Working to Recognize Alternative Possibilities) program, which puts social workers in district schools to deal with non-academic student issues. Unfortunately, this year, the plan to have WRAP funding shared by the city, county and school district came undone in part because those units of government didn’t want to accept responsibility for funding the program.

Under budget pressure, city commissioners declined to fund WRAP. School board members, some of whom expressed the feeling that mental health services were not part of the district’s mission, also approved a budget without WRAP funding, although negotiations continue on the matter and funding may be identified.

Certainly, the school district should take advantage of federal funding or other sources at its disposal to pay the resource officers. That’s a win-win for the district and the city.

It’s also fair and proper for all units of government to focus on their primary funding responsibilities. However, trying too hard to split this tab could easily result in hard feelings and protectionist attitudes.

Even when finances are tight, cooperation is the key.