Wheels

In this posting on the SET Political Review, Philip R. Klein quotes suspect sources concerning cost-cutting measures in the City of Beaumont:

"Millions of dollars are flushed down the toilet with empty buses running around the city and they want to cut back on Firemen?" - Asked our source inside the Beaumont Professional Fire Fighters Association.

"You would have to think that maybe the city might need firemen and paramedics before they need a ride on the bus?" - he went on to say.

And frankly - as we have been a proponent of smaller government - the fire fighters are right on.

From a Beaumont news release (emphasis is mine):

Adjustment of staffing levels in the Fire Department: In order to reduce overtime expenditures in Fire operations – overtime increased from $215,000, in fiscal 2003 to $1,336,000 in fiscal 2009, more than a 500 percent increase – the department will decrease the “minimum daily staffing” level from 47 to 44. 

With annual costs of $23,424,300, the fire department is the second largest expenditure in the city budget. Here are the facts on the Beaumont Municipal Transit Fund:

Municipal Transit Fund
Revenues and expenditures for FY 2010 are expected to be $7.1 Million. State and Federal monies are projected to total $4.6 Million which includes $2.4 Million of federal monies that have been awarded for the purchase of fleet and capital improvements. After farebox revenue of $600,000, federal monies for capital improvements, and federal and state operating funds totaling $2.2 Million, the General Fund will subsidize the difference or [sic] $1.9 Million.

The cost of overtime for the fire department almost equals the city's municipal transit costs. When Beaumont last tried to curb spiraling overtime, Klein had this advice:

The fire fighters do not want civilians trained in dispatching fire trucks and EMS units. They want only fire fighters to do the job.

Our advice - shut up and sit down. Seriously - shut up.

As a self-professed proponent of smaller government, Klein's position in his latest posting is hypocritical. For almost a century, the Beaumont Transit System has contributed some important economic benefits not found on a simple balance sheet.