Thursday, October 6, 2011

The Walker Budget Is Already Working! Part XX

Scott Walker's budget is basically a taste of the austerity measures that he really wants to impose on Wisconsin.  And it's having it's predictable and negative impact across the state, from school districts to counties to municipalities.  For example, look at the City of Sheboygan (emphasis mine):
Possible options for bridging a $1.3 million deficit in the city's 2012 budget include laying off 21 city employees, privatizing garbage collection, closing a fire station, cutting funding to the Mead Public Library, or bringing back a storm water fee or a $2 "wheel tax," according to an executive summary on the budget submitted to aldermen.

"This is just the first kick at this budget. These aren't the end-all and be-all of budget options," said Ald. Don Hammond, who is chairman of the Common Council's Finance Committee. "We're just putting numbers to things to give aldermen an idea of what some of those savings might be."

The city's shortfall is primarily due to $787,000 in decreased revenue and a $513,000 hike in expenses, according to the summary that Finance Director Jim Amodeo delivered to aldermen at their Monday night meeting.

The budget was most heavily affected by Gov. Scott Walker's budget repair bill passed earlier this year, Amodeo said in his summary.

That includes a $979,000 reduction in state aid while savings from increased employee contributions to retirement and medical plans totaled $470,000.
And unless we are successful in getting His Malevolence out of office in the upcoming recall, things will get only worse as his budget gimmickry, also known as his "tools," are no longer available.

For a vision of what is to come if we don't rid ourselves of Walker and his fellow parasitic pals comes from Walker's hometown of Colorado Springs, Colorado:
More than a third of the streetlights in Colorado Springs will go dark Monday. The police helicopters are for sale on the Internet. The city is dumping firefighting jobs, a vice team, burglary investigators, beat cops — dozens of police and fire positions will go unfilled.

The parks department removed trash cans last week, replacing them with signs urging users to pack out their own litter.

Neighbors are encouraged to bring their own lawn mowers to local green spaces, because parks workers will mow them only once every two weeks. If that.

Water cutbacks mean most parks will be dead, brown turf by July; the flower and fertilizer budget is zero.

City recreation centers, indoor and outdoor pools, and a handful of museums will close for good March 31 unless they find private funding to stay open. Buses no longer run on evenings and weekends. The city won't pay for any street paving, relying instead on a regional authority that can meet only about 10 percent of the need.
You know what, I don't see any of that creating one job either.

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