waste of tax money by public schools

The state of Washington just completed an audit of 13 of the state’s biggest school districts and the waste they found really makes you stop and think. They found that the school together could save over 1.1 million over the next couple years if they controlled their spending on retreats. They found that the Vancouver school district could save at least $37,000 and the Evergreen school district could save $40,000. No keep in mind that they only checked 20% of their travel expenses so that number could be 5 time higher at $185,000 & $201,000.
On one conference in Chicago they found that the board members only attended 2 of the 5 day of conference but stayed for the full 5 day. They didn’t share rooms and spent over $200 a night on room. They also went out to dinner on two different nights spending over $50 each on dinner and all this on tax payer’s money. Now I don’t know about you but I don’t go out and spend $50 on dinner for myself even if I pay for it. To expect the tax payers to pay for these unnecessary and out of line spending when they keep telling us they have budget shortfalls and need more money is downright dishonest and should be illegal
Now I have always supported taxes I thought were necessary and of value like schools, police & fire but after reading about this waste I would have a hard time voting them any more money. It is bad enough that they give their employees raise’s every year (3% to 6%) and city of Seattle gave their police a 25% to 34% raise last spring. They seem to have forgotten they work for us and have a responsibility to spend the money we entrust to them.
Spending by our state and local officials has gotten way out of control. They do what they want with no regards to the tax payers they represent. It is time to put our foot down and demand they be responsible and live within their budgets just like the rest of us do.

county budget

I was reading in the Columbian new paper the other day and the county commissioners were talking about the budget for the next year. They were talking about how their spending was going up more than their revenue. They were complaining that because of a voter mandate their tax increases were capped at 1% plus new construction and with the current economy new construction was down 34%. Now even with normal new construction it would only and about 1% more to their budget so between the normal increase and new construction they would get about 2% or a little bit more each year. Now this is where it gets good.
They were talking about their surplus and how it was being eaten away and would soon be gone. Their reasoning was that with the cost of everything going up more than their revenue and here is the part I really like. With giving their employees 6% increase each year (remember payroll is 60% or more of their budget) their expenses go up faster than their income. Now isn’t that just the dumbest thing, anyone with a third grade education knows if your income goes up 2% you can only increase your expenses by the same amount or you will run out of money.
Now I know that everyone wants more money. I myself would like more and have asked for raises every year. For the last 4 years I was told no. My boss said they couldn’t afford to give raises. This year I got a raise and it amounted to 3% which equals less than 1% a year over the last few years. Now with the exception of government employees (count, state, city and federal) the average pay raise is less than 2% a year. Minimum wage has not gone up for a few years and when it does go up it is not that much. Our elected officials need to start to watch the way they spend our money we entrust to them. They need to write a realistic budget and stick to it.
I personally write a budget each year and have ever sense I got my first job so I would know what I can spend. I have found it incredibly valuable to me and would encourage everyone to do a budget each year. The simple fact is to spend what you have or less and that is how you get ahead. Our elected officials don’t seem to understand this and just keep spending as if their money was endless. If they need or want more they have the taxpayers to give them more. They don’t understand that we also have to live within our means so we cannot keep giving more and more to them otherwise we will not be able to balance our personal budgets.
The housing collapse was caused by several things one of which were people living beyond their means and all you have to do is look at the news or the stock market and you see what happens first hand when you spend more than you have. As we deal with this and try to solve the housing problem people forget about where the countries budgets are going. If we do nothing in a few years we will be facing a worse problem as our government faces the same problems the housing market is in the only difference is who will bail out the government except for us poor taxpayers.
Now what can we do about this problem. The first is simple pay for public employees should be capped at revenue increases, for example Clark County where I live sees a 1% increase plus new construction. This means they should only get pay raises of 2% a year. This gives them more money each year and keeps the budget in check. They say we have to give these big raises to keep quality people. The fact of the matter is if all state, county and city government did this then we would not have to worry about losing them as employees. The pay and benefits that public employees get is far better than most taxpayers get. It is time to level the playing field. Now from what I understand when a state, city or county job comes open they have hundreds of people put in for them.
Our elected officials have forgotten who they work for. They forget we are the ones who pay not only their pay checks but also all the public employees pay checks. If they keep living beyond their means they will not only bankrupt our government but the taxpayers too. We will become a nation in debt so far we will not be able to get out. It will not be easy but we need to start making cuts and stick to a budget. In good times you can spend a little more but you always need to save some for the future so our kids and our kids children are not handed a nation in debt.
If our elected officials can’t or won’t do this then we as citizens owe it to ourselves and our children to elect new ones who will. The public employees who work for us also need to understand that the days of huge pay raises are gone. If they don’t like their jobs or pay then let them find another job someplace else. But either way these huge pay raises need to stop or they need to live in the real world with the rest of us.

Waqshington state cell phone law

Washington State has passed a new cell phone law which went into effect October 1, 2008. This law makes it illegal to talk on a cell phone while driving a car unless you have a hands free head set. Now let me start off by saying I am totally in favor of this law. I myself have a hand free head set that I bought when I got my phone. They are not that expensive and for me it was a safety issue. I have even gone as far as pulling over when driving when I have been involved in an intense conversation. I do it for my safety as well as the other drivers on the road.
I have witnessed other drivers that are not paying attention even without a phone. All you have to do is drive on the freeway during rush hour and you see all kinds of drivers, men shaving, women putting on makeup, even reading a news paper over the steering wheel. So as I said I think this is a good law and I hope other states will do the same. If your state does not have such a law please go ahead and get a hand free set for your cell phone it could be your life or mine that you save.
Now with that being said there is one problem with the law. The state gave an exception to police. They can still use their cell phones without a hand free set. Now think of the logic of this. They have way more going on than anyone else. They are not only watching their driving but everyone else. They are tiring to drive code 3, operate their lights and siren, talk on the radio and even work a laptop computer in their cars all while speeding through intersections and red lights. If anyone should use a hand free head set it is the police. They should be held to the same standard as everyone else especially sense it is so easy and the cost is minimal.
Now for some good news the Clark County Sheriff’s office feels the same way. They also believe that they should be held to the same standard sense it is a safety issue. Gary Lucas issued all deputies hand free sets and told them to use them. I only hope all the other police agencies follow their lead. Good job Clark County Sheriff!