Thank the feds for that $10,000 purchase

File this one under "unfunded federal mandate."

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Columbia County commissioners Tuesday approved, at a cost of more than $10,000, the purchase of a "sign reflectometer."

What, pray tell, is a "sign reflectometer"? Just like it sounds, the device measures the reflection. From signs.

But why would anyone want to measure the reflection from signs?

Enter the bureaucrats: In January 2008, the Federal Highway Administration ordered all states, cities and counties to improve the nighttime visibility levels of street signs.

The aim is to make sure signs are easier to see, especially to older drivers at night.

The federal rules don't require the purchase of a highly specialized $10,000 device to measure that visibility; a qualified inspector also can perform "visual nighttime inspections." Of every single sign.

Either way, it doesn't take a "qualified inspector" to call BS on this bureaucratic mumbo-jumbo. Seriously? Does anyone wonder why the country is drowning in debt when federal bureaucrats have enough time on their hands to come up with cockamamie ideas like requiring communities to evaluate the "reflectivity" of their street signs?

On second thought, file that under "your tax dollars at work."