This article is from Cal-Tax Digest, published
by the California Taxpayers' Association.
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(Editor's Note: Following are examples of how taxpayer dollars are spent, or misspent. Generally, these cases are based on newspaper reports.)
Over-the-Hill Parking Vehicles. About 65 percent of the Cushmans used by the San Francisco Department of Parking and Traffic are "over the hill," yet the department keeps spending to fix the vehicles. This is reported by the San Francisco Chronicle's Matier and Ross, based on what they called a blistering audit from Harvey Rose, the city's budget analyst. This policy has led to unbelievable costs such as sinking $6,898 into a Cushman with a book value of only $124. Further, the audit says about $9.7 million is spent covering missed shifts because 25 percent of meter officers are not available for their shifts on any given day. Also, on any given day, at least 34 employees are out on disability. Still further, there is evidence of the filing of multiple claims, or filing of claims at the same time every year for the same injury. Therefore, auditors suspect fraud.

Soggy Freeway Prompts Probe. The Joint Legislative Audit Committee in Sacramento has voted to investigate why part of the Century Freeway in Downey (Los Angeles County) was constructed over a shallow aquifer that has undermined the freeway. The committee on April 20 decided to spend $87,750 on the probe by state Auditor Kurt Sjoberg. The Los Angeles Times has reported that internal Caltrans reports showed warnings were ignored that the shallow groundwater table could damage a 3.5-mile stretch of the state's newest and most expensive freeway.

Paid to Stay Away from Work. Assistant Santa Clara County Sheriff Ruben Dias has been paid his regular $2,013-a-week salary for the past three months - even though he has not done a day's work, according to a report in the San Jose Mercury News. Sheriff Laurie Smith, who defeated Mr. Dias in a bitterly contested election, doesn't want him around. She put her former opponent on administrative leave, with pay, and would like to eliminate assistant sheriff positions. Mr. Dias claimed he was too ill to work for Santa Clara County, and would like to retire early with a heart condition, the newspaper reported. Meanwhile, he applied for the police chief job in Salinas. The Salinas job was given to someone else, but Santa Clara County officials, after learning Mr. Dias had applied for the job, rejected his disability claim. The newspaper reported that some county officials believe the $2,013-a-week pay is a small price to keep the peace in the sheriff's department.

Lots of Legal Fees. "This is unbelievable," says Los Angeles City Council President John Ferraro, referring to the council's decision to pay $180,000 in legal fees to attorneys who represented Anthony Robert Mee. The city had lost a $1,200 lawsuit to Mr. Mee over a false arrest after he was stopped for reckless driving in 1990 and a knife was found in a fanny pack. "Twelve-hundred dollars to the client and $180,000 to the attorneys. It makes you wonder," said Mr. Ferraro, according to a report in the Daily News.

A $30,000 Flusher. From the Santa Barbara News-Press: "Flushed with pride, Carpenteria city officials and downtown business representatives dedicated a new public restroom on Thursday. What more fitting way to christen a water closet at Ninth Street and Yucca Lane, just off Linden Avenue, than with what else? A toilet-paper cutting ceremony. 'I get so flushed at these events,' said Mayor Brad Stein... He and his son Kevin shared the ceremonial first flush." Last summer the city approved $30,000 for the cost of the facility. It will cost $3,000 per year to maintain.

Party, Party, Party, etc. Los Angeles Mayor Richard Riordan's proposal to spend $1 million on five regional New Year's Eve 1999 celebrations has drawn outrage from the Howard Jarvis Taxpayers Association (HJTA). "What are they celebrating, that they have an extra $1 million to spend on parties?" asked Kris Vosburgh, executive director of the HJTA, in an April 22 Los Angeles Times report. Mayor Riordan said regional arts councils will host the celebrations, bringing the city together and also projecting a positive image of the city. Mr. Vosburgh said the mayor and members of the city council have said the city lacks money for needed infrastructure improvements, and they pushed an unsuccessful $744 million bond measure for police and fire-fighting facilities. "Obviously, the taxpayers are paying for this party," he said. "I think they would rather see the money spent on more practical things, like renovated police and fire facilities."

S.F.'s Waste Symbol. The symbol of wasteful spending in the San Francisco school district - $7.7 million for the 91-year-old Pacific Bell building - was scheduled to be unloaded via an auction. That was the unanimous school board decision on April 27. The district, facing a $10 million budget problem, could not justify last year's purchase of the seven-story building, which has remained vacant. Teachers and parents have criticized use of district general fund money, which is needed for operations, to buy the building. District Superintendent Bill Rojas, meanwhile, has decided to take a similar job in Dallas. Board members don't remember when they voted to buy the building, according to a report in the San Francisco Chronicle. The auction was set for June 18.

Bond Election SNAFU. Supporters of the unsuccessful $744 million bond measure on April 13 in Los Angeles were concerned that mistakes in the city clerk's office would damage their chances of winning. City Clerk Michael Carey accepted blame for the errors that left the list of proposed police and fire protection projects out of voter pamphlets mailed to 1.3 million registered voters last month. According to a report in the Daily News, Mayor Richard Riordan was furious. Backers of the measure felt the list was important if the bonds were to gain the necessary two-thirds voter approval. The list was reprinted for a special, $340,000 mailing.

Tardy L.A. Phone Bills. Los Angeles city officials are fuming in the wake of auditors' discovery that the city had to pay $517,000 in late fees on telephone bills last year, more than double the usual amount in recent years. City Controller Rick Tuttle says the Information Technology Agency also has failed to develop a system to prevent improper use of city telephones. An example of misuse: A phone was left behind while City Hall was renovated two years ago. It was used for $900 in collect phone calls from England and other faraway places. An audit found dozens of "mystery" phones that were never authorized. Furthermore, the city has been paying $7,000 a month for directory assistance. According to newspaper reports, Mayor

Richard Riordan said the late fees were "appalling." Councilman Michael Feuer said, "Incurring any late fees at all is a scandalous waste of taxpayer money."

Disability Retirement - for Gambling. An editorial in the San Jose Mercury News skewered the disability pension system that it said provides "easy supplementary income for anybody with the slightest problem who wants to try a new career. Add gambling to the list of excuses." The newspaper cited the decision of the San Jose Police and Fire Retirement Board to grant disability retirement to ex-cop Johnny Venzon Jr., who, at the time of the November 9, 1998 editorial, was awaiting trial on charges that he stole from people while on duty as a cop. His non-service-related disability: a gambling addiction. He was offered help for this problem by the department, but refused. He is accused of trying to make up for his off-duty gambling losses by rifling dead bodies for jewelry.