Make it a tepid celebration.

Hundreds of charitable groups that had feared getting no money this year due to the budget crunch are celebrating the news that they'll get something after all, though just how much is unknown until a meeting of county commissioners scheduled for Tuesday. Despite a $444 million deficit, commissioners found a way to restore about 70 percent of the money earmarked for arts and community-based organizations.

Like most people, I'm glad many worthy groups in the community will survive yet another year, but you'd have to be delirious with giddiness not to acknowledge there's something terribly wrong with the entire process. Basically, the county takes money away from taxpayers and gives it to commissioners to spend on their favorite pet projects. For their generosity with other people's money, commissioners get brownie points that often translate into votes.

Now, it's perfectly legitimate for a government to support arts and nonprofit programs, particularly if it is concerned that the private sector isn't stepping up and doing its part to support charitable efforts. But there are plenty of reasons for questioning the propensity, scope and methods of our governmental philanthropy.

For one thing, the notion that our nonprofits are forgotten, helpless little entities that need government handouts to survive just doesn't hold up to scrutiny. In fact, nonprofits in Miami are in better financial shape than those in many other parts of the country. A study last year by Charity Navigator, an organization that evaluates charitable giving, showed that charities in Miami were growing the fastest of 30 philanthropic markets studied nationwide. In obtaining the No. 1 spot, Miami beat out San Diego, which held the top ranking during the previous three years. As recently as 2003, Miami ranked last among the 30 markets studied.

What changed? It seems our nonprofits are getting pretty darned good at managing money. To their credit, they've reduced their fundraising and administrative expenses. As a result, they are allocating more money to programs -- 82.2 percent of their overall budgets, according to the study; that's up from 78.5 percent. And they are paying their CEOs pretty handsomely as well. The study found the median compensation to nonprofit CEOs in Miami is $141,358, up 12 percent from the previous year. Some are compensated well above that average, such as United Way of Miami-Dade's CEO, at $629,148.

Nonetheless, it's fair to say that there are always worthy community organizations that don't have the fundraising power and financial muscle that such a study would suggest. In those cases, surely, there are better ways of helping them than relying on a system rife with the dangers of political favoritism.

For example, instead of handing money directly to nonprofit groups, the county could allocate all charitable funds to the Dade Community Foundation. It's the community foundation's job, after all, to do exactly what commissioners and administrators have taken it upon themselves to do -- support charitable causes in the community. The foundation has been doing a decent job of it for 40 years now, offering everything from scholarships to community grants.

Asked what he thought of the idea, President Javier Alberto Soto said the foundation is always ready to work with the entire community, including the public sector. ``To the extent that we can provide assistance,'' he said, ``we're happy to do it.''

Something tells me commissioners wouldn't be so happy to accept the help.