Following up on this piece of budgetary excrement from yesterday, the Georgia Department of Transportation is still looking for more to cut from the budget. Eureka, they’ve found something!
They’ve decided to cut the grass on Georgia medians and rights of way less frequently next fiscal year.
This plan will save $11 million for fiscal year 2010. I, for one, think that is super. But why in the name of the Sweet Baby Jesus did it take until NOW to make this decision? You mean last year as economic conditions were on the decline it was decided that this money was okay to spend? This is a cut that should have been made long ago and points to the continuing problem with state government: there is PLENTY to cut and those who profess to be “to the bone” with their budgets are ignorant. Or lying. Or both.
Because since we went another year mowing the grass, we’re told now that there is no money to make general repairs or fix traffic lights. Swell.
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Maybe GDOT could borrow Souter’s goat in lieu of cutting the grass.
+10 points to Dash Riptide. HA!
It’s good strategy to say “there’s just no money to do it” for the improvements that are obviously needed, meanwhile sheltering all the deadwood in DOT. If the public servants would save money by cutting the obvious waste then there is no chance for increasing next year’s funding. The preferred solution is to build pressure by exacerbating obvious suffering.
Zero Based budgeting
Think the DOT can waste money take a look at Bryan County. The commissioners built a multi-million dollar “state of the art” recreation park and put in astro turf soccer fields. They have now discovered they will have to water, yes you read that right, water the astro turf because it is to hot to play on in the summer. Almost $30K to accomplish this little feat which doesn’t include the cost of electricity and this money will have to come out of their recreation budget. They will have the world’s largest steam bath or slip-n-slide. The park is a SPLOST park but Bryan won’t pave a county road because they are sitting at the DOT empty trough waiting for a handout instead of using SPLOST money.
Privatize the cutting. Allow farmers to graze Sheep/Horses/Cattle on the side of the road. Maybe they could even make a profit out of this.
GG – Local gov’t typically use SPLOST $$ to leverage DOT funds which is one reason they are able to accomplish so much with SPLOST funds. There is no way most counties could afford most of the roadway improvements on SPLOST lists without using the SPLOST as the local match for either federal or state funds. So, no, Bryan probably really does not have the money to pay for the paving because they were only anticipating having to provide the local match GDOT promised and no longer has.
I understand but use the SPLOST money for roads not astro truf that needs to be watered.
Of course the GDOT doesn’t have the funds it used to. It’s being siphoned off to these other groups like the GA toll authority, the Atlanta Regional Commission and other “who knows” groups. Classic neoconservatism: defund the basics and then outsourse where the insiders can make some quick cash by selling out.
I don’t see the examples you cite as being pet projects of conservatives. For my part I’d like to see the ARC defunded.
The overriding cause of what’s going on is that we’re in a recession. Even Biden admits it.
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