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 ...
...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.
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