On Monday, Gov. Baldacci signed legislation that will place an $83 million bond package on the ballot this November.

There’s a lot of good contained in the package, which was laboriously negotiated by Republicans and Democrats in the Legislature. The bipartisan deal was less than half the $197 million the governor originally sought.

Still, there’s much negative energy circulating about the borrowing, especially in some conservative circles. It’s uncalled for.

In a perfect world, the state wouldn’t have to borrow money. Revenue would be high enough to cover all expenses, including investments in infrastructure, economic development and the environment.

In that same perfect world, that would be true for families and businesses, too.

But we don’t live in a perfect world. The most important investments a family can make are often paid for with borrowing. Only a lucky few families can send their kids to college without taking out loans. The biggest purchase a family is likely to ever make – buying a house – almost always requires a mortgage. Even buying a car means monthly payments for most of us.

The businesses that can expand, buy a new piece of major equipment or grow their office space without help from a lender are few and far between.

The state’s no different. If we want to live in a place with a good transportation network, successful schools and a commitment to preserving open spaces and clean water, we have to pay for it.

Bonds are a good way to capitalize on the federal government’s limited support of those same priorities by capturing matching money that enhances the state’s buying power.

We’d rather avoid borrowing – at home, at work and for the state. But the roads, the water and the woods won’t wait for that perfect world.