The part that caught my eye was the last paragraph:
On a related point, Paul, in complaining about the parks in Madison, asserts that the size of state and local governments has not kept up with inflation. Is that true? It's not true nationally, is Wisconsin an exception. Do we have trouble maintaining the parks in Milwaukee County because conservatives have starved government or has government starved itself with unaffordable benefit packages that have devoted enormous resources to people who no longer work for it?Now, I will give Rick, and Scott Walker, the acknowledgement that the pension scandal was a major screw up and did put Milwaukee County into a major financial bind. But the key word is "did". By far, the biggest hit that the County took financially was in 2004. That is when a pension enhancer kicked in, and most people retired, taking the money and running. Even most right wingers, including the CRG, state that they don't blame the workers, but those in charge at the time.
Even then, the unions tried to warn Walker that there was going to be a mass exodus, and that he should be prepared for it. He scoffed at it, and thought he was going to pull a rabbit out of his hat, and be able to rescind the legally, if inappropriately, awarded benefits. That, of course, didn't happen.
So instead of bracing for the coming hit, or even creating a plan to deal with the fallout of the pending exodus, Walker instead chose to plan for his short-lived campaign for governor in 2006.
Due to that lack of foresight, and other poor decisions, not only has the County taken a hit on the pension fiasco, it is taking continuous hits, via lawsuits, due to mismanagement and insufficient staffing and/or equipment at the House of Corrections, the Sheriff's Department, the parks, the transit system, the courts, and Human Services.
To exasperate the matter even worse, Walker's administration has willfully ignored other sources of revenues by letting the mental health complex's accreditation lapse, stalling on the $91.5 million in federal money waiting to be spent on public transit, and other grants that he chose not to pursue. I don't about you, but if there was a way for me to spend $20, and get $500 in return, I would take it. Walker apparently likes that type of thinking, and would rather see the entire county go into squalor.
But now it's 2008. Most of the payouts have been paid out, and the few that are still pending can be easily covered with the contingency funding that is built into every budget. So the excuse of the pension scandal is a worn out, no longer valid excuse, and the right really ought to drop it. It makes them look as unoriginal and invalid as the excuse they try to foist on us.
The most insulting part of it all is that the current woes that the County is suffering from do not stem from the pension debacle nor from Walker's incompetence. It stems from Walker's indifference as he tries again to use Milwaukee County as a stepping stone for his own further political gain, which probably isn't going to happen anyway. To neglect the business climate, to ignore the needs of the elderly, the disabled, the ill and the poor, just for the hope of giving oneself an imaginary political boost is inexcusable.
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So the excuse of the pension scandal is a worn out, no longer valid excuse
ReplyDeleteReally?
Doesn't the County have to kick in about $60 million/year for pension obligations?
And isn't that a LOT more than it would be under the old pension system?
Capper, I'm too lazy to look but what is the total county budget? If pension is at $60 MM (yes a whopper) how does it compare it to the rest of the budget.
ReplyDeleteKR-
ReplyDeleteThe total county budget(page 20) for 2008 was $1,343,940,239.
Dad, the problem is not the pension fiasco. If anything, that has helped. The big backdrops came out of that year's operating budgets, not the pension fund. But the backdrop did decrease the amount of the pension. The large number of retirees were concentrated in 2004 because of the pension enhancer, which ripened in 2004. Without that, many people would have retired either before or much after 2004.
The pension fund, and it's shortfall is directly related to two things. One, the stock market and economy going to hell after 9/11, and never recovering due to Bush's economic policies.
The other was that Walker willfully underpaid the fund every year. That is like paying less than the minimum payment due on a credit card. You get hit with all sorts of penalties and late fees. Same with the pension fund.
Walker could have avoided all of that, but he had his one plank platform to run on, so he chose not to avoid it, and hoped that he was gone before it hit the fan.
Thanks for the link to the budget. I'd say a 4.1% annual growth rate (2003-2008) for a budget in a county that is shrinking is way more than healthy. I don't have the CPI in front of me, but that has to be about 30-40% higher than inflation over that period. And the starved Park System has had budget increases of over 8% in each of the last 2 years. The employee Benefits percentage of 47% for our parks employees is easily three times what comparable work in the private sector would pay. We really are starving our park systems, and they certainly are not half of what they were when I was young. But it certainly isn't for lack of paying taxes. Yet increasing taxes is always the answer. It is really sad, that we could outsource the whole department, pay the same above market wages, build in a nice 15% profit margin, and still save 15% on the cost of running the parks.
ReplyDeleteCurt,
ReplyDeleteInflation is the highest it has been in 17 years due to faulty economic strategeries like Bush's and Walker's.
If the cost of the benefits is so high, it is most definitely due to the exhorbitant cost of health care. Shouldn't we do something to bring that down, beside trash the parks?
Capper,
ReplyDeleteInflation over that time period was running maybe 2.5% versus the 4.1% increase in the county budget. Perhaps it is high, but hard to keep claiming starvation, when their revenue (Taxes) keep rising at a rate far in excess of our income growth.
As to benefits. Yes health care is a problem, but it is a problem in the private sector, yet private sector employers can provide competitive benefits at much less than half of that cost. I still stand by my statement, that I could take that budget, provide far better service, make a healthy profit, and still have money left over. The waste inherent in our government is what is starving our services.
Capper,
ReplyDeletePark expenses have increased by over 8% the last two years, which is well over 3 times the rate of inflation. It is horribly sad to see our tax freedom day (The percentage of time we work for the government, rather than they work for us) getting later and later, while we get less and less for those ever increasing dollars.
To the first post, last year's budget was under the rate of inflation, which was 3%. And the expenses going up is primarily related to healthcare and to gasoline, both of which went up at the rate of double digits each year over the past several years.
ReplyDeleteMillions could have been saved if the County had approved the contract with the unions when it was preposed. Instead, Walker grandstanded and it cost taxpayers millions of dollars. Add to that the cost of higher repair bills due to lack of maintenance and, well, you get the picture.
I will agree that there is much waste in government. Today's news of Walker hiring his campaign manager for the tune of $75000 to fill a made up slot is a prime example.
Another would be Walker wanting to sell county land, moving the mental health complex, and renting another building, all at a cost that is higher than if they tore down the existing building a built a new one. And then when the lease is up, what do you think the rent will do? And the county will be forced to pay the exorbitant increase, or have to buy land and build anew, at a grotesquely higher cost.
The tax freedom day being later is the end result of poor economic policies from the likes of Bush and Walker.
But for the sake of argument, let us say you can do what you claim. What would the cost be? High turnover, a major increase in supervision and training costs, lack of accountability, poorer servics aare all common effects of privatization.