Posted on 07/10/2012 5:23:34 AM PDT by TigerLikesRooster
SCRANTON RUNS OUT OF MONEY, Cuts All City Salaries To Minimum Wage
Mike "Mish" Shedlock, Global Economic Trend Analysis|Jul. 10, 2012, 7:11 AM
Scranton, Pennsylvania's, the state's sixth-most-populous city (population of 76,089 in 2010 census), is down to its last $5,000 and has no way to pay salaries.
The mayor wants an immediate tax hike of 29% and 78% over three years. In every sense of the word, Scranton is bankrupt.
NPR reports Scranton's Public Workers Now Paid Minimum Wage
(Excerpt) Read more at businessinsider.com ...
P!
Like the city workers are going to show up if that’s the case.
The unions must be screaming at the top of their lungs over this, I mean how can they extort money from people making minimum wage now??
Just a beginning, I would say every D held stronghold is teetering, except where the effite white SWPL types have set up shop, and those won’t last long.
“The US Bankruptcy Court for the Middle District of Pennsylvania has dismissed the bankruptcy petition filed on behalf of the City of Harrisburg, Pennsylvania, finding that the city failed to meet eligibility requirements under the Bankruptcy Code to be a chapter 9 debtor.”
Interesting.
Let’s see how quickly the liberal, democrat-voting back-office, do-nothing workers seek other jobs rather than living according to their marxist ideal. Unfortuately for them, due to their marxist ideal being realized at the highest levels, there are no other jobs to be had. And since they have no worthwhile skills to speak of (bad customer service, expertise at delay, confusion, bureaucracy and break-taking), they wouldn’t be hired anyway.
I wonder what the median "City Salary" is?
Oh yeah, guess what political party mayor "we need an immediate 29-78% tax hike" belongs to.
Wait wait wait . . . you mean providing employees with lavish compensation packages and supplying services at far above market rates without the tangible means to pay for either of these things isn’t sustainable?
This city has been run by Dems tied to the mob for as long as I was on this earth. Born 1954
Oh, and another thin, wait till they see the union dues deduction on top of the pay cut.
Government workers will now have to go deal with the inefficiencies of their fellow government workers running the welfare offices. Hope they like the lines from the other side of the counter and enjoy feeling the frustration of the bureaucracy they excel at!
This guy did very thorough homework on the problem.
Hey I know! They could go house to house and beg for donations and if that doesn’t work they can demand them.
The expression ‘blood from a stone’ comes to mind.
I like that argument. They want income equality for all.. The GOP should be shouting how successfully Scranton is seeking income equality, from the rooftops! I find this highly unlikely from the neutered GOP. Did I say neutered? I doubt they ever had a pair in the first place.
Start building or refurbishing commercial real estate just outside Scranton city limits, demand is going to skyrocket!
You name the town or city, its still the same problem.
Hehehehe, what makes you think there will be anyone there for them to talk to? Remember, they are guvment workers, too!
“The mayor wants an immediate tax hike of 29% and 78% over three years”
I couldn’t imagine being in this mayors position and having the nerve to say something like that.
I’d be too busy assuming everyone I passed on the street was going to punch me in the face.
And deservedly so...
Hope the Dunder-Mifflin office survives.
Oblameo will basically print money to bail all these dem strongholds out.
Every dollar he prints will make every dollar you have, worth less.
...until they are worthless.
That’s exactly my point. They’ll be on break, or on vacation, or on family&medical leave or some such. Should be fun to watch.
I just read another story about this, they want the court to order the council to enact the tax increases, or implement some other plan, in violation of separation of powers. Were I a councilor, I would like to see a court force me to vote yea against my will, or for that matter, force an executive to pick up a pen and sign a piece of legislation.
This is aristocracy attempting to sieze power, plain and simple, which will lead to oligarchy and tyranny.
See. If they could just increase the taxes of all the billionaires in Scranton everything would be fine. And the trillionaires who live in Scranton too, of course.
Obviously, governmental accounting is substantially different than financial accounting, but at the end of the day, you’re still looking at the same basic concepts. You’re still looking for a positive net cash flow. What I’m finding is that the city has not had positive net cash flow for quite a long time, and we’ve been borrowing and borrowing and borrowing and now we’re just in over our heads,” Lewis said.
In the financial world, one borrow's to make a future cash flow in excess of the debt service, usually by applying work, productivity, etc.
In the governmental world, one borrows to buy votes and skim in the present
Interesting article/analysis. So they pay the beginning firemen and police about 3 times what the average citizen there esarns. Great idea, no? These LIB asshats who run these cities are fully out-of-control. Detroit Jr is emerging. Anyone with a brain needs to leave the crummy city.
Interesting article/analysis. So they pay the beginning firemen and police about 3 times what the average citizen there earns. Great idea, no? These LIB asshats who run these cities are fully out-of-control. Detroit Jr is emerging. Anyone with a brain needs to leave the crummy city.
Didn’t Bill Scranton, Sr., move to FL long ago? Did he desert a sinking ship?
...Were I a councilor, I would like to see a court force me to vote yea against my will, or for that matter, force an executive to pick up a pen and sign a piece of legislation.
They can’t. - What they CAN do, unfortunately, is incarcerate you, one and all, for contempt.
Your attorney would have to file a writ of HC in the Superior Court to have you released.
It would be *most* interesting to see how that would play out, given the immunity that public officials have from the consequence of their legislative actions while in office.
Were such detention ultimately upheld, it would grant the Judiciary unlimited power to arrest any public official and also usurp the elected official’s right to set fiscal policy.
Now THAT would stir up the old pot!
“The mayor wants an immediate tax hike of 29% and 78% over three years.”
Yeah, that’s the ticket.
If the city workers complain and want to strike, then give them a 5% raise followed by a 5% earnings tax to show them how things really work.
You’re talking about a police department that spends tens of millions of dollars on salaries for 140 employees. You look at it and it’s not supportable…You’re dealing with a city where the average person makes $28 to 29,000 a year. You’re paying $66 to 70,000 to police and firefighters to start. You can’t support that. You can’t sustain that,” he said.“It’s really as simple as the fact that we have a municipal government and a compensation structure scaled for a city about twice the size. If we had twice the tax revenue, we wouldn’t be having this conversation. The city shrunk, but the government never shrunk.”
Better yet, Hizzoner should order a layoff of city employees of 29% and 78% over three years. That should pretty much fix the problem.
Welcome to the world of the Libtards. Blame everyone but themselves. Destroying city after city, the liberal leftist way.
They destroy, but the people don’t see.
I believe I read another FR posting on Monday that indicated the public unions had gone to court and the ruling was that Scranton could NOT cut pay to minimum wages. ........Essentially, that means the city will be bankrupt (and would have been even after paying minimum wages), so they will file for that, IMO.
The firefighter union did win a decision on this. The dem scum Mayor said “make me”.
Keep in mind that the cut to minimum wage is temporary, the mayor has said all back pay will be paid once he get’s the money.
Scranton is a city where about 4 in 5 residents are on food stamps. (my estimate)
Scranton needs to declare bankruptcy, desperately, but neither the mayor nor council are willing to even talk about it.
There’s a guy name of Gary Lewis mentioned in an article above that’s been making the case for BR. He may run for council next year.
He maybe Scranton’s only hope.
Is Scranton changing it’s name to Obamaville??
Maybe some of them will get them a real job but i doubt it, they might have to have a little self responsibility if they did that.
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