Political Culture Makes America Exceptional

Read the column here.

Some readers may remember that I had intended a column along these lines last November as sort of a tie-in with Thanksgiving. Then the Selig/Walmart thing erupted and I am just now getting back around to this topic (Independence Day seemed like a reasonable time for it). Anyway, this is one of those times when I'm not sure that my execution of the topic was as good as the topic warranted, but what are you gonna do?

Addendum -  Another thing that did not make it into the column was the fact that we have a peaceful transfer of power after elections. We have never had a president, governor, or even a city councilman (of which I am aware at any rate) who simply refused to leave office and whose supporters took up arms to keep him there (which is not to say that some skulduggery has not occurred from time to time).

Just pay attention to the news and you will see that such is not the way political events unfold in much of the world.

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Clarke Schools Getting Plenty Of Money

Read the column  here.

The above column was based on a presentation that I made at the second of the CCSD’s three public budget hearings (in a rather factual, polite, and non-confrontational manner, if I do say so myself).  When the meeting broke up, a single member of the Board of Education had a brief question about the statistic I used concerning Staff Services (see below).  The other five members of the Board in attendance, and all of the CCSD administration types who were there, had not the first word to say to me.  Such is entirely par for the course.  As usual, percentage and percentile calculations are my own.

CCSD FY 2013 Tentative Budget Presentation
http://www.clarke.k12.ga.us/files/14/fy2012-2013%20boe%20tentative%20budget%20presentation%20revised%2004-19-2012.pdf

Per Pupil and Total Expenditures from the Georgia Department of Education
http://app3.doe.k12.ga.us/ows-bin/owa/fin_pack_revenue.entry_form

CCSD FY 2011 Per Pupil Expenditures in the seven categories tracked by the Georgia Department of Education:
School Administration — $644.42 (17.58 percent above the state average of $548.08)
General Administration — $553.64 (22.88 percent above the state average of $450.56)
Instruction — $7,515.74 (30.59 percent above the state average of $5,755.13)
Pupil Services — $390.97 (31.56 percent above the state average of $297.19)
Maintenance & Operations — $1,060.34 (55.79 percent above the state average of $680.60).
Transportation — $753.20 (80.10 percent above the state average of $418.21)
Staff Services — $892.78 (100.99 percent above the state average of $444.20)

CCSD Per Pupil Expenditures:
FY 2011    $11,811.08
FY 2010    $11,360.09
FY 2009    $11,248.22
FY 2008    $11,180.05
FY 2007    $10,746.94
FY 2006    $9616.96
FY 2005    $9038.05
FY 2004    $8902.00
FY 2003    $8740.89
FY 2002    $8225.14
FY 2001    $7699.37
FY 2000    $7383.78
FY 1999    $7110.40
FY 1998    $6476.72
FY 1997    $6056.03
FY 1996    $5915.85

CCSD Total Expenditures:
FY 2011    $140,126,681.13 (FTE = 11,864)
FY 2010    $135,787,197.78
FY 2009    $132,560,274.19
FY 2008    $132,304,656.82
FY 2007    $122,676,358.17
FY 2006    $108,777,454.92
FY 2005    $101,750,418.08
FY 2004    $99,008,011.15
FY 2003    $96,053,605.15
FY 2002    $89,826,702.74
FY 2001    $83,961,638.61
FY2000    $77,884,098.32 (FTE = 10,548)
FY 1999    $74,758,695.78
FY 1998    $69,333,256.88
FY 1997    $64,775,274.85
FY 1996    $63,335,132.28 (FTE = 10,706)

Adjusted for inflation, the CCSD’s Total Expenditures for FY 2000 ($77,884,098.32) would have been $101,737,347.22 in FY 2011.  Of course, such an extrapolation does not take into account the change in the number of students, but the increase in that number in no way accounts for the growth in spending, (and is why Per Pupil expenditures is a better indicator of spending trends; the Georgia Department of Education uses FTE, or “full time equivalent” as its measure of student populations).  The fact that the actual expenditures for FY 2011 exceeded those accounted for by inflation by almost $40 million is staggering.

QBE Allotments from the Georgia Department of Education
http://app3.doe.k12.ga.us/ows-bin/owa/qbe_reports.public_menu?p_fy=2000

Bureau of Labor Statistics CPI Inflation Calculator
http://www.bls.gov/data/inflation_calculator.htm

US Inflation Calculator (will accommodate more digits than the BLS calculator above, though it uses the same BLS CPI data)
http://www.usinflationcalculator.com/

Finally, I noted at the budget hearing that, according to data from the Georgia Department of Education, the Barrow County School District, located just up the road from Athens, has more students than the CCSD, makes do with fewer employees, has a student population the majority of whom qualify for free/reduced lunches, and has levels of academic achievement that are just as good as (if not better) than those of the CCSD . . . and does so with a budget that is $30 million less.

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County Holds Line On Property Taxes

Read the column here.

Unified Government’s Public Hearing on the FY 2013 Budget:

http://athensclarkecounty.granicus.com/MediaPlayer.php?view_id=2&clip_id=497

The “double dip” housing market problem (of particular note for local readers are the absolutely horrid numbers for the Atlanta market):

http://www.standardandpoors.com/servlet/BlobServer?blobheadername3=MDT-Type&blobcol=urldocumentfile&blobtable=SPComSecureDocument&blobheadervalue2=inline%3B+filename%3Ddownload.pdf&blobheadername2=Content-Disposition&blobheadervalue1=application%2Fpdf&blobkey=id&blobheadername1=content-type&blobwhere=1245332471437&blobheadervalue3=abinary%3B+charset%3DUTF-8&blobnocache=true

The “shadow” inventory problem:

http://www.dsnews.com/articles/shadow-inventory-update-46-months-to-clear-supply-of-distressed-homes-2012-05-14

http://www.standardandpoors.com/prot/ratings/articles/en/us/?articleType=HTML&assetID=1245333322278

http://articles.chicagotribune.com/2012-04-11/news/sns-201204111215usnewsusnwr201204100410housingapr11_1_shadow-inventory-housing-market-real-estate-market

http://www.investorplace.com/2012/03/the-shadow-inventory-darkening-housing/

The “robo-signing” settlement problem (originally applicable to five major banks in February, expanded to another eight in March; by the way, true to form and reminiscent of the tobacco settlement of years ago, several states have already started to apply their windfalls not to redress mortgage foreclosure problems as intended, but to plug various holes in their budgets):

http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052970203315804577211620066795962.html

http://blogs.wsj.com/deals/2012/03/19/fed-plans-to-fine-eight-more-banks-for-foreclosure-violations/

http://www.nytimes.com/2012/05/16/business/states-diverting-mortgage-settlement-money-to-other-uses.html?_r=1&smid=fb-share

Addendum

I never stated that the only way to account for the additional revenue needed was by adding owner-occupied residential units, as I am fully aware that local government has a variety of income sources.  What I said was “That means the equivalent of more than 6.3 homes, just like ours, must be added to the county’s property tax digest every day for the entire year to account for the new spending in the proposed FY 2013 budget.”  Since the point of my column concerned City Hall’s millage rate, this seemed a useful way of presenting my argument.

Be that as it may, the proposed FY 2013 Operating Budget is $104,338,470 and the proposed FY 2013 Capital Current Services and Additions & Improvements budget is $3,194,000, for a total of $107,532,470.  The equivalent figures for FY 2012 are $103,892,731, $2,300,800, and $106,193,331, respectively

So, even if one excludes the CCSA&I portion of the budgets, FY 2013 is still increasing spending by $445,739 over that of FY 2012.

FY 2013: http://athensclarkecounty.com/DocumentCenter/Home/View/9383 (see page A-3)

FY 2012: http://athensclarkecounty.com/DocumentCenter/Home/View/3629 (see page A-9)

Also, see these previous Banner-Herald articles that mention a $107.5 million figure for the FY 2013 budget:

http://onlineathens.com/local-news/2012-04-30/mayor-proposes-cuts-athens-transit-firefighters

http://onlineathens.com/local-news/2012-05-05/review-weeks-top-stories

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Ron Paul's Bye-ku

As usual, shamelessly lifted from James Taranto over at WSJ's Best of the Web Today:

Ron Paul (15 May)

Latest word from the

Ron Paul Survival Report

Is that he didn't

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Labor Statistics Can Be Cherry-Picked

Read the column here.

Wall Street Journal:
http://blogs.wsj.com/marketbeat/2012/04/12/the-true-unemployment-rate-tr...
http://blogs.wsj.com/economics/2012/05/04/why-did-the-unemployment-rate-...
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB1000142405270230475280457738422097782764...

Oregon Labor Market Information System:
http://www.qualityinfo.org/olmisj/ArticleReader?itemid=00000486

Bureau of Labor Statistics:
http://bls.gov/news.release/empsit.t15.htm
http://www.bls.gov/cpi/cpihqaitem.htm
http://www.bls.gov/cpi/cpihqaqanda.htm
http://www.bls.gov/cpi/cpiaudio.htm

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Newt's Bye-ku

Newt Gingrich (25 April)

The gun-toting sheep

Of Beltway cocktail parties

Stand victorious

Yes, I realize that I am running somewhat behind with this, the latest of James Taranto's GOP presidential candidate bye-kus for 2012, published a couple of weeks back on the WSJ's "Best of the Web" feature.

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Unified Government's FY 2013 Budget

So, City Hall is upping spending by $3668.87 per day. Year after year, I keep telling the Unified Government of Athens-Clarke County (and the Clarke County School District, and the State of Georgia, and the Federal Government of the United States), that it does not have a revenue problem, it has a spending problem – and my words continue to fall on deaf ears.

Be that as it may, City Hall has just released its “mayor recommended budget” for FY 2013. The 342-page document tallies $107,532,470, an increase of $1,339,139 over the current FY 2012’s $106,193,331. See the recommended budget here.

The Commission has three budget review sessions slated for:

• Monday, 07 May

• Thursday, 10 May

• Tuesday, 15 May (IF NEEDED)

All three of these review sessions will take place at 5:30 p.m. in the auditorium of the Governmental Building located at 120 Dougherty Street.

A public hearing on the FY13 budget is scheduled for Thursday, 17 May.

The Commission will adopt the FY13 Budget at its regular monthly meeting on Tuesday, 05 June.

These last two meetings are both scheduled for 7:00 p.m. in the Commission Chamber in City Hall, located at 301 College Avenue.

And just as an aside, The Clarke County School District’s proposed $117,979,316 budget for FY 2013 comes in at a mere 59 pages – so much for clarity and specificity, huh? See the CCSD’s tentative budget here.

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Lobbying Shows Best, Worst Of Representative Government

Read the column here.

Just some food for thought:

Money in Politics Archive (podcasts and transcripts)

http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=149649575

Lobbying: The Myth, the Reality and the Impacts on Policy (“The Scarlet L”)

http://inews6.americanobserver.net/articles/lobbying-myth-reality-and-impacts-policy

Lobbying: From First Amendment to the Obama Era (timeline)

http://inews6.americanobserver.net/content/lobbying-first-amendment-obama-era

What is the History of Lobbying?

http://www.congress.org/news/what-is-the-history-of-lobbying/

The late Robert Byrd’s excellent Senate essay on “Lobbyists”

http://www.senate.gov/legislative/common/briefing/Byrd_History_Lobbying.htm

The lobbyist through history: villainy and virtue

http://www.csmonitor.com/USA/Politics/2009/0928/the-lobbyist-through-history-villainy-and-virtue

United States v. Harriss (1954)

http://caselaw.lp.findlaw.com/scripts/getcase.pl?navby=case&court=us&vol=347&page=612

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Good News On Legislative Ethics?

Read the column  here.

The original version of HB 875 was reported favorably out of the House Game, Fish, and Parks Committee and passed by the full House. Across the legislative way, a substitute version was favorably reported out of the Senate Natural Resources and Environment Committee and passed by the full Senate. Note that the subject of “ethics” does not spring to mind when considering the jurisdiction of either of these committees. Thus, a conference committee was appointed to reconcile the differing versions.

I have reviewed several accounts of what transpired with the amended version of HB 875 and they all read the same way: the Senate hurriedly passed the conference committee’s version by a vote of 46 to 4, with 5 not voting and 1 excused, but did so largely in ignorance of what the amendment entailed (both Cowsert and Ginn voted in favor); once legislators got wind of what the conference committee bill actually did via the amendment, the measure failed in the House by a vote of 25 to 143, with 7 not voting and 5 excused (Heard and Williams voted against, only McKillip voted in favor).  Since the different House and Senate versions were never reconciled, in that the conference committee version failed in the House. the original bill was never passed:
http://www.legis.ga.gov/legislation/en-US/Display/20112012/HB/875

For Ray Henry’s AP piece on the amended version of HB 875:
http://m.apnews.com/ap/db_8545/contentdetail.htm?contentguid=Nr1CS8W5

For Aaron Gould Sheinin and James Salzer’s AJC rundown of Balfour’s current ethical problems (with a hat tip to Atlanta Unfiltered’s Jim Walls – himself a former AJC editor and investigative reporter):
http://www.ajc.com/news/georgia-politics-elections/senate-leader-reimbur...

For PeachPundit editor Charlie Harper’s interesting take on the mess the Senate Republican Caucus has gotten itself into vis-à-vis Balfour:
http://thealbanyjournal.com/2012/04/with-power-comes-responsibility/

For Chris Joyner’s AJC analysis of lobbyists’ spending during the 2012 legislative session:
http://www.ajc.com/news/gifts-continue-to-rain-1409980.html

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CCSD Budget Hearings

The “tentative” FY 2013 budget and property tax millage rate for the Clarke County School District will be released at tonight’s regular meeting of the Board of Education, to be held at 6:30 p.m. at the CCSD Administrative Offices on Mitchell Bridge Road.

Even though particulars of the budget will not be release until then, some observations are in order.

First, the budget.  For those who do not know, the CCSD per pupil expenditure for FY 2011 was $11,900, placing it in about the 95th percentile statewide, a position that has been constant for some years now.  For that stratospherically high level of spending, we get a graduation rate recently recalculated at 66.1% according to a new method imposed by the U.S. Department of Education (I’m shocked, shocked, that local and state education bureaucracies played games with the calculation of their graduation rates – yeah, right).

Second, the millage rate.  The CCSD’s portion of the local property tax millage rate has been at the constitution limit of 20 mills since about 2005 (as I recall), so don’t expect any change there.

Finally, budgetary "reductions."  Citing a decrease in federal and state revenues, not to mention the decrease in the local property tax digest, Superintendent Lanoue states that the tentative budget includes reductions estimated at $9 million.  Perhaps, but in past years so-called “reductions” have amounted to nothing more than decreases in anticipated (or hoped for) increases rather than a lessening of actual spending.  In fact, the budgets keep going up, even as the CCSD claims millions of dollars in reductions on an annual basis.

Be that as it may, the Board will adopt the tentative budget and millage rate at 6:30 p.m. on 19 April, also at 6:30 p.m. at the CCSD Administrative Offices.

The schedule for the CCSD’s three TBOR public hearings is:

•           15 May – Alps Road Elementary School at 6:00 p.m.

•           22 May – Gaines Elementary School at 6:00 p.m.

•           24 May – CCSD Administrative Offices at 6:00 p.m.

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