Guess privatized transportation doesn't always work

[AnsleyPark]

Assets include far more than cash. Can't spend a firetruck on pothole fixing.

[dysgenic]

Originally Posted by AnsleyPark

Assets include far more than cash. Can't spend a firetruck on pothole fixing.

The city has a ton of cash and investments. They have plenty of money to fix potholes.

[arjay57]

Originally Posted by MattCW

Sure, just as soon as we do that for all the other government services. Call 911 to report a burgler? That'll be $1,000 to send the police. Fire department puts out your little house fire? That's $5,000. Arrested for something? That'll be $1,500 to the court if you plead guilty, $5,000 per day of the trial if you don't. Want to take the kids to the park for an afternoon? That's $10 to enter, plus an extra $5 for each additional person after the second, and $5 for each additional hour after the first two.

I'd say police and fire services should be paid out of general funds, assuming no one is abusing them.

As far as parks, many of them (in the COA) are already privately supported. Many people come in for free but they wouldn't exist without private donations.

[arjay57]

Originally Posted by dysgenic

The city has a ton of cash and investments. They have plenty of money to fix potholes.

You have to wonder why they don't.

[dysgenic]

Originally Posted by arjay57

You have to wonder why they don't.

Because they would rather invest the money than spend it on the public good.
Pretty shameful, really.

[AnsleyPark]

Originally Posted by dysgenic

Because they would rather invest the money than spend it on the public good.
Pretty shameful, really.

From the city's 2012 financial report:

The assets of the City exceeded its liabilities at the close of 2012 by $7.3 billion. This amount represents the City’s Net Position. Of this amount, $1.2 billion in unrestricted net position may be used to meet the City’s ongoing obligations to citizens and creditors.

The City’s total net position increased by $273.5 million or 3.9% compared to 2011.

As of the close of 2012, the City’s governmental funds reported combined ending fund balances of $510.2 million. The unrestricted General Fund balance of $107.1 million is available for spending at the City’s discretion, and represents approximately 20% of General Fund budgeted expenditures for fiscal year 2013.

The City’s long-term debt, including capital leases, at June 30, 2012 totaled $7.5 billion, a net increase of $303.7 million or 4.2% from the prior year’s balance of $7.2 billion.

I wouldn't call this filthy rich for a city the size of Atlanta.

[arjay57]

According to the department of Public Works, we're looking at $900 million in deferred maintenance.

The proposed $250 million bond issue next year may make a dent in that but there will still be a long way to go. That $250 million is just for deferred stuff, of course, nothing new.

Atlanta Proposed Bond Presentation

[MattCW]

Originally Posted by arjay57

I'd say police and fire services should be paid out of general funds, assuming no one is abusing them.

Why do they get a pass and transportation doesn't? Ok, I can see police, their mere presence provides benefit. But fire service is quid pro quo just like others here think transportation is. They provide a service that in no way can be accomplished by their mere presence in the way police can.

As far as parks, many of them (in the COA) are already privately supported. Many people come in for free but they wouldn't exist without private donations.

I doubt many of them would exist without the government support either. A park with a large private donation base isn't what I was talking about, and is splitting hairs. Maybe a better example is that beltline everyone is so fired up for. How about a per-mile user fee of maybe $0.10, so you enter, you pick up a card, then when you leave, your mileage is computed and you are charged accordingly. Any exit at your entry point is charged based on time spent on the trail. Any time spent over some computed time for an entry to exit trip and you're charged an additional time-based fee on the assumption that you took that time to go out and back (such as enter at Piedmont park, you walked down to Edgewood, but walked back up and exited at Ponce De Leon).

[arjay57]

Originally Posted by MattCW

Why do they get a pass and transportation doesn't? Ok, I can see police, their mere presence provides benefit. But fire service is quid pro quo just like others here think transportation is. They provide a service that in no way can be accomplished by their mere presence in the way police can.

Good point. It's my understanding that almost 90% of fire department calls are for medical problems rather than fires. So maybe some of that expense should be restrcutured.

I doubt many of them would exist without the government support either. A park with a large private donation base isn't what I was talking about, and is splitting hairs. Maybe a better example is that beltline everyone is so fired up for. How about a per-mile user fee of maybe $0.10, so you enter, you pick up a card, then when you leave, your mileage is computed and you are charged accordingly. Any exit at your entry point is charged based on time spent on the trail. Any time spent over some computed time for an entry to exit trip and you're charged an additional time-based fee on the assumption that you took that time to go out and back (such as enter at Piedmont park, you walked down to Edgewood, but walked back up and exited at Ponce De Leon).

Well, I don't think it's splitting hairs to note that many public parks in the city of Atlanta rely on private funds rather than support from the city. In other jurisdictions around the metro area the government does pick up the tab, but not in the city proper. If you live intown and you want a playground for your kids you need to go out and start raising money. Some people think that's unfair, yet such is life.

I would be fine with charging some sort of modest user fee for things like the Beltline. If you are contributing property taxes maybe you should get a reduced rate. On the other hand, somebody's got to pay for the upkeep, the police, etc.

[bu2]

Guest: Rant aside, Indiana won in toll road deal

"Virtually every word of his column is untrue or misleading. The Indiana Toll Road transaction, which converted a state-operated disaster into a highly regulated utility, has been hailed around the country and the world as a huge public policy triumph, enabling Indiana to leap ahead of every other state in building and rebuilding its infrastructure.

Here is a very partial list of the transaction's benefits:

More than 200 projects that would never have happened without the $3.8 billion cash bonanza the state received for the lease."

....[if you are interested, the article goes into detail about all the projects funded]

"Some 255 pages of contract require the best service the Toll Road has ever seen, under penalty of fine or, if not remedied, forfeiture of the right to manage the road. By every measure, today's Toll Road is the best-run it has ever been, and that won't change if a different operator inherits the contract with its hundreds of pages of performance requirements (and, please note that the state must approve any new operator). Indiana motorists using E-Z Pass are still paying the same rates they did in 1985, and later when tolls can rise, they are tightly limited to inflation-level increases.

Friedman's central attack is 100 percent false. First, we don't have to "take the road back;" Indiana owns it and always will. It's the management of the road that's at issue. If the performance standards are not being met or a bankruptcy occurs, the operator has a short time to cure the deficiencies or the road reverts to state operation. I should know; I wrote that into the contract. It's readily available on the state website.

The economic struggle of the lease's investors means exactly one thing: It is proof positive that Indiana got a spectacular deal. The banks paid too much for the revenue they are getting under our controlled toll rates. "