Local Government diet tips

Social Services  Transportation  K-12  Higher Education Local Government  Budget & Taxes  Health Care Audit Reports  Complete List  Success Stories How can we make sure our local tax dollars are being spent with accountability? Keep an eye on these problems: Don't spend millions for billionaires King County is building a $36 million sewage treatment and irrigation plant in Redmond, but so far the only private customer is the Willows Run Golf Course, owned by multi-billionaire Paul Allen and his brother-in-law...more Don't make ratepayers fund political consultants Seattle City Light, the nation's ninth largest public utility, has a public relations budget of $2.5 million per year...more Don't forget who pays public salaries in Tacoma Salaries for public employees in the City of Tacoma have increased by an average of 6.4 percent this year, nearly three times the cost-of-living growth for the area...more Turn street lights on and art funding off City of Tacoma turns off street lights to save money while approving hundreds of thousands for new public art grants...more Cuff the Caretaker A recent investigation by the State Auditor's Office found that nearly $30,000 in extra checks were paid to a former county caretaker between 1998 and 2001...more Unclog the river for less Thurston County thought it would take two months and $1.6 million to clear a logjam in the Deschutes River, but local neighbors did it for $8,000 in less than three weeks...more

The rest of the story . . .

Don't spend millions for billionaires posted on 2/28/03 - WW34 King County is building a $36 million sewage treatment and irrigation plant in Redmond, but so far the only private customer is the Willows Run Golf Course, owned by multi-billionaire Paul Allen and his brother-in-law. The new plant will end a three-year legal battle between Willows Run and the state Department of Ecology, which claimed the golf course's use of water was lowering the nearby Sammamish River. The golf course will pay about $60,000 for the 50 million gallons of water it uses each season—roughly half the cost of fresh water. The county claims the 5.5 acre demonstration facility will convert sewage into irrigation water, saving salmon and providing training for new technology. But King County Councilwoman Kathy Lambert calls the plant "a very unnecessary boondoggle." She says a test facility could be built much cheaper somewhere else, and points out that "Paul Allen can afford to buy his water from anywhere he wants to, including Saudi Arabia if he chose. We will never recoup the money. Never." Thank Kathy Lambert for speaking out, and ask the others to put a stop to this boondoggle! top   Don't make ratepayers fund political consultants posted on 2/28/03 - WW32 Seattle City Light, the nation's ninth largest public utility, has a public relations budget of $2.5 million per year. That includes $849,000 for salaries, $535,000 for advertising and consulting, $632,000 for printing, and $488,000 for miscellaneous other expenses. Last year, City Light spent $50,000 to have consultants coordinate focus groups and find out what people think of the utility's performance, as well as the credibility of local politicians, media publications, and community organizations. City Councilman Jim Compton questioned City Light's motives for the consulting: "It looks overtly political to me," he said in a Seattle Times interview. "How did that $50,000 really benefit the ratepayers?" Read more about this story in a Seattle Times article by reporter Jim Brunner. Then contact Seattle City Light Superintendent Gary Zarker (206.684.3200) and ask him if his utility really needs $2.5 million for public relations. top   Don't forget who pays public salaries in Tacoma posted on 2/07/03 - WW27 Salaries for public employees in the City of Tacoma have increased by an average of 6.4 percent this year, nearly three times the cost-of-living growth for the area. This brings the average salary for the city's public employees to $58,000, while Tacoma's private sector median family income is $38,000. City officials explain the disparity by saying the level of skill required for most city jobs is much higher than many positions in the private sector. The City Council plans to consider raises ranging from 5 to 22 percent for some nonunion city employees this week. Meanwhile, the city recently announced cuts in many basic services and increases in various fees and taxes. Tacoma's five utilities are also raising rates. Perhaps that's because the Public Utilities Director makes $171,308 a year and the Power Superintendent makes $159,120. Click here for a complete list of Tacoma employee salaries and positions. Contact Tacoma city officials and remind them who pays the bills in Tacoma: working families who are struggling to make ends meet during economic hard times. Tacoma Mayor Bill Baarsma Tacoma City Manager Ray Corpuz: (253) 591-5130 Tacoma City Council: (253) 591-5100 News Tribune: City employee wages jump 6.4 percent top   Tacoma City Council members leave taxpayers in the dark posted on 1/31/03 - WW22 In an effort to address a $19 million deficit in the City of Tacoma, city officials decided to turn off 2,300 street lights, delay fingerprint processing at the police department, reduce the number of misdemeanors prosecuted by the city, make residents wait longer for public hearings on city issues, cut many senior services, stop picking up abandoned vehicles, and consider closing Fire Station 13. Meanwhile, they approved $268,750 in new public art grants on January 20 through the Tacoma Arts Commission, which has a $1,661,135 budget for the 2001-03 biennium. The city has also donated $10 million in "in kind" contributions to the Harold E. LeMay car museum, and millions more to the "Bridge of Glass" connecting to the Chihuly Museum of Glass downtown. The willingness of council members to leave taxpaying citizens in the dark while they pour more money into public art projects is illuminating: they'd rather exploit citizens than represent them. Contact Tacoma city officials and tell them to get their priorities straight and stop ripping off the people they claim to represent. Tacoma Mayor Bill Baarsma Tacoma City Manager Ray Corpuz: (253) 591-5130 Tacoma City Council: (253) 591-5100 top   Caretaker on the take posted on 1/6/03 - WW19 Last year, a Thurston County Cemetery District Commissioner was preparing a W-2 for the former district caretaker when he noticed something dead wrong. Twelve checks had been processed for the caretaker in 2001. Usually, this would be normal, since payroll is processed once a month. But the caretaker only worked through September of that year. Twelve monthly checks in nine months? A investigation by the State Auditor's Office found that nearly $30,000 in extra checks were paid to the former caretaker between 1998 and 2001. According to the audit repot: "The lack of monitoring at the District level and a lack of oversight by the County enabled the former caretaker to take unauthorized vouchers to the County for processing and payment." Our county officials need to keep a closer eye on caretakers and take better care of our money. Click here to read the audit report. The cemetery district is under the direct authority of the Board of County Commissioners. You can call the BOCC at 360-786-5440 or click here to visit the BOCC website where you will find additional contact information for individual members. top   Volunteers fix $1.6 million local logjam for $8,000 posted on 12/18/02 - WW01 Last winter a 1,200 foot long, 60 foot wide, and 10 foot deep logjam in the Deschutes River threatened 22 properties. Thurston County officials spent more than $100,000 to figure out that it would take another two months and $1.6 million to clean up the mess. Luckily for us, the county decided that was too much to spend on private property. So the neighborhood banded together and found their own solution. They spent $8,000 and unclogged the river in less than three weeks. They were able to keep costs low because many services were donated. They were given a free hydraulic permit and found a jail work crew to clear a roadway, a local logger who was willing to donate his time, and a local church to cut wood for low-income families. For some reason the county couldn't find a way to use these low-cost solutions. Maybe they didn't look very hard. But maybe there's no incentive when they're writing checks from someone else's account. Call the Thurston County Commissioners' Office at 360-786-5440 or click here to visit their website where you will find additional contact information for individual members. top

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