Working Away

This may seem out of left field, but given my newfound status as an intern with the Los Angeles Area Chamber of Commerce, it really shouldn't be.

Mayor Villaraigosa professes to have seen the light, when it comes to fiscal responsibility. In his tenure as a Council Member, he was better known for fighting reform than fighting for it, at least when saving money was concerned.

Now, facing a projected $270 million "structural deficit" in the coming fiscal year, he's making like Ebenezer Scrooge and grasping at pennies. Besides suddenly discovering tens of millions of dollars in administrative waste, Antonio is pulling some covert tax raises to make up the gap.

Specifically, there's a proposal to raise the monthly equipment fee that functions as an effective trash collection tax, gradually increasing it to 155% of its current rate by 2009, to $28 per month. Long subsidized by the city, raising the fee for trash hauling has been a staple of budget proposals for decades, but the homeowning forces resisted that prospect. With more than half of Los Angeles in apartments, the political backlash doesn't seem to be as violent.

Of course, if the fee were presented as I have given it, it would be going nowhere. So, the mayor's office has teamed up with Bratton in arguing that all the funds raised would go directly to the effort of hiring new police officers. Sounds reasonable enough. The LAPD has 9,000 troopers, while NY has 36,000 (we're numbers two and one in terms of large city safety), so why not increase the police force. Bratton's done good work while in town thus far and has a lot of political pull. All seems to be fine...

Except that there's nothing legally tying these trash funds to the police, except the good mayor's word. Given his track record, that's not too reassuring. That would be the measured response to this issue. For the decidedly intemperate reaction, see this excerpt from an LA Voice editorial.

Unable to convince the required two-thirds of L.A.'s voters voluntarily to heap more taxes upon themselves, Mayor Villaraigosa today floated a trial balloon to impose a new tax, but only on homeowners -- not renters.

You, however, are supposed to be too stupid to realize he's proposing a tax increase. Instead, you are supposed to believe it's merely a "fee" for a service that you have unfairly received "for free" year after year, namely, trash collection. You're also supposed to believe that this tax increase is necessary because there is no fat in our city's strained budget to pay for enough police ...

The Mayor's trial balloon was released today in an L.A. Times article which began with the following premise: "Los Angeles Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa, caught between a tight budget and a promise to expand the city's police force, will recommend hiking trash collection fees and using the money to pay for more officers."

Stop right there. "A tight budget?" They're kidding, right? The City of Los Angeles receives more revenues now than at any point in history, namely $5.9 billion per year. In what sense are we supposed to believe that the budget is "tight"? The answer, of course, is that to spendaholic career politicians like Villaraigosa, you, the taxpayer, are never paying enough, and with just one more small increase in your taxes, they'll finally be able to solve everything this time.

The trial balloon article continues, "Currently, Los Angeles residents pay $11 a month for their trash containers as well as vehicle purchasing and maintenance costs. But the city subsidizes the overall cost of hauling garbage away to the tune of $200 million to $230 million a year."

Back the truck up. This is where the mayor -- and the reporters -- think you're especially stupid. You are supposed to believe that you, "Los Angeles residents," are only paying $11 a month, and that some completely different person, called "the city," is paying an additional "$200 to $230 million." Man! What a deal you're getting! You are getting hundreds of millions of dollars worth of services from "the city" for free!

But where does this generous fellow, "the city," get his money? From you, my simple-minded taxpaying friend. You are already paying not just the $11, but also, through your property taxes and sales taxes, the $200 to $230 million. Got that? Despite what the mayor and the reporters say, you are already paying the entire bill. The bill is not split between you and the city. You pay the whole thing right now.

I've been laughing for some time at this. Go ahead and read the rest. It's worth it.