Budget and Tax diet tips for government

Social Services  Transportation  K-12  Higher Education Local Government  Budget & Taxes  Health Care Audit Reports  Complete List  Success Stories How can we ensure that our taxes are put to good use and that the state budget isn't abused? Try these slimming suggestions: Spend a little less on fish State and federal officials admit they can't put their finger on any actual results for the billions spent on salmon recovery...more Sell the private jet Some Washington State Patrol officials think a $3 million 1991 Model Beechjet is essential to their operations...more Reform retire-rehire law Dennis Cooper, the state's chief code revisor, recently "retired" for a month, then came back to work where he started collecting thousands of dollars in pension payments on top of his regular $9,064 monthly salary...more Cure the Liquor Board's accounting hiccups A useless $32 million warehouse? Unaccounted sales of over $400 million? Over $800,000 in false billing records? Has anything changed at the Liquor Control Board?...more

The rest of the story . . .

Spend a little less on fish posted on 2/11/03 - WW28 Over the past two decades, the federal government has spent more than $3.3 billion (with a ‘b') to help salmon in the Columbia River. Our state has chipped in $270 million in "salmon related expenditures" during the current 2001-03 budget cycle. But state and federal officials admit they can't put their finger on any actual results. A recent report published by the Congressional General Accounting Office states, "There is little conclusive evidence to quantify the extent of [the effect of recovery actions] on returning fish populations." In December 2002, Governor Locke's Salmon Monitoring Oversight Committee warned, "We risk losing Congressional and legislative funding for salmon recovery if benefits cannot be demonstrated." You mean people want proof their money is being spent effectively? Sounds fishy (to some state officials, at least). Find out more from the Salmon Recovery Office. Contact Director Steve Meyer at 360.902.2246. If you think salmon recovery is the job of government, let him know you'd like measurable results for money spent. top   Sell the private jet posted on 2/05/03 - WW25 Some Washington State Patrol officials think a $3 million 1991 Model Beechjet is essential to their operations. Former Governor Mike Lowry and EFF president Bob Williams beg to differ. At a cost to taxpayers of $1,575 per flight hour—$640 an hour more than each of the State Patrol's other six Turbo Prop aircraft—the jet is hard to justify. As governor, Lowry tried to sell the jet in 1993. Indeed, a study done by the State Patrol several years ago shows that selling the jet could save $250,000 a year for taxpayers. But lawmakers pulled the plug on the deal and returned the jet to the Patrol. While Patrol officials say the jet is cost-effective because it can fly faster (thereby saving money on long-distance trips), records show the jet is almost always used for short, in-state flights. Further, maintaining the jet costs $468 per maintenance hour—$119 an hour more than the Turbo Props. And now state officials want to give the jet a $1 million upgrade. Patrol officials have also claimed they need the jet to transport dangerous criminals . . . the kind citizens wouldn't want to sit next to on a commercial flight. Frankly, unless they're worried such criminals won't be comfortable in anything less than a Beechjet with air-conditioning, it would be a better deal for taxpayers to use one of the Turbo Props, or maybe even a plain old patrol car. "I think their priorities are goofed up," said Bob Williams in a recent KING 5 TV interview. "Public health and safety are the priority, not refurbishing a jet aircraft for the State Patrol." Call the aviation division of the Washington State Patrol and tell them it's time to let go and sell the Beechjet: 360.753-6173. KING 5: A high-flying extravagance for Washington State? top   Reform state's retire-rehire law posted on 1/31/03 - WW24 Dennis Cooper, the state's chief code revisor, recently "retired" for a month, then came back to work where he started collecting thousands of dollars in pension payments on top of his regular $9,064 monthly salary. The state's "retire-rehire" law was written to coax teachers and other skilled employees out of retirement or keep them from leaving for private sector jobs. But some state employees, like Cooper, are using it to give themselves substantial pay raises even when they have no intention of retiring. State law was changed two years ago at the request of Governor Locke and school Superintendent Terry Bergeson. The law allows state employees to work up to 1,500 hours each year while collecting pension payments. Dennis Cooper never cleaned out his desk when he "retired." His position was never advertised as vacant. Shortly after he came back to work, his second-in-command, Gary Reid, also "retired" for a month, and thus added pension payments to his more than $8,100 monthly salary. Read the recent Seattle Times coverage to be informed about this issue: Editorial: Curb the state's retire-rehire fiasco Legislator wants to retool retire-rehire law for public workers to avoid misuse top   Liquor Control Board hiccups posted on 12/27/02 - WW15 First, there was the $32 million fiasco surrounding a useless warehouse. Then, last February, an audit report discovered that the Liquor Control Board (LCB) couldn't accurately account for its more than $400 million in sales. Six months later another audit report uncovered over $800,000 in false billing records. But is anything being done about the Board's long track record of corruption and mismanagement? These internal shortcomings are all symptoms of a bigger problem: the LCB is a monopoly in charge of both regulating and distributing the product it sells. How can state officials be so blind to such an obvious conflict of interest? As one Seattle Times editorial put it, "The Board's very mission challenges logic: At the same time as it is supposed to keep minors from buying liquor and drunks from getting drunker, it is responsible for keeping liquor profits flowing into the state treasury." Even a stumbling drunk couldn't miss this one. But for some reason our state leaders are still seeing double. Click here to read more details about this story on the EFF website. You can call the LCB at 360-664-1600, email the LCB at wslcb@liq.wa.gov or click here to visit the LCB website for further contact information. top

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