Just like many people have learned saving their pennies over the course of a year - those pennies can really add up. Another thing penny savers know, once it has accumulated, it's easy to dip into that pot of money.

The state of South Dakota has found itself with a temptation similar to the penny jar: a special fund for to provide telephone services to the deaf and hearing impaired that grows 15 cents at a time.

The problem is, as it has accumulated, the state couldn't resist and dipped in.

The fund - the Telecommunications Relay Service Fund - is to provide telephone services for the hearing impaired. It is generated through a monthly 15-cent assessment on telephone bills and each year it accumulates an impressive $1.5 million. In the past two years, the Legislature, with the blessing of Gov. Rounds, has withdrawn $2 million from the fund and place in the general fund for government services.

While nothing illegal was done, misdirecting the monthly telephone fee revenue is simply unacceptable. Taxes gathered for the hearing impaired services should be used for that and only that. Using those dollars for "unspecified purposes" is out of line - misleading both those paying the taxes and the intended recipients.

The practice should stop now. Taxes levied for a specific purpose should be dedicated to that, and only that, purpose.

As the president of the state association for the deaf points out, today's needs for the deaf and hearing impaired haven't been met. Access at rest areas, airports, malls, hospitals and other areas is lacking.

Why, we wonder, has the state seen fit to dip into money that was set aside to address these very needs?

By dipping into the funds, the state may find itself in a quandary when major upgrades to the system are needed.

Video relay is reportedly on the horizon; and it's expensive. Will the taxpayers wind up paying for that out of pocket, we wonder, now that $2 million has left the fund? Or, more likely, it won't be developed because the money has already been moved to the state's general fund.

Moving this money into the general fund was out of line - not illegal but unethical. The only recourse is to stop the practice immediately and explain to the taxpayers why $2 million was moved from the fund in the first place.