It would be foolish to plan to make your mortgage payments next year with money you hope to get but aren't sure you will.

That's sort of what the General Assembly did in the state budget this year. State Revenue Director Burnet Maybank told legislators that if they would give him an extra $10 million to hire more tax collectors, auditors and staff, he could bring in $90 million in delinquent taxes.

The legislators wisely funded the request. That's an excellent investment and should prove to be money well-spent.

But then the legislature immediately made plans to spend the "Maybank money," as it has become known.

As Gov. Mark Sanford points out in a letter on this page, the legislators should not have built their budget on that money. It's another example of the gimmicks the legislature has long relied on in its budgeting process.

We can hope the $90 million will materialize, and Maybank is so confident he's bet his job on it. But there's no guarantee it will.

If the money falls short, some agencies will be forced to do more painful cutting. The lawmakers could have done better.