Consolidated Crony Capitalism
Mayor Anthony Foxx continues to advocate for city/county government consolidation. Why? There is no place for serious savings to the taxpayers. Those changes were made long ago. The city gave parks to the county; the county gave police to the city. The city has fire, public transit and roads; the county funds CMS, social services, libraries, jails, pays for court and CPCC buildings. The city doesn’t. There is little overlap, because the savings available by consolidating services have already been done. Where then are the savings to the taxpayers?
Certainly studies can be done that might show some insignificant savings. There are probably a few positions that could be eliminated, but they would be offset by increased costs. You can hardly expect Bill James to take on more responsibilities without an increase in pay and, knowing the mindset of the permanent politician, he would want a full-time secretary.
Very honestly, this would be the position of each of the elected officials. They would want more pay and a staff. It is difficult to fault them for that, as the responsibilities they have now are almost too much for an individual to bear on a part-time basis. Which is likely one of the reasons Foxx wants it. It would be a better paying job for him, if he won. Considering the last election, one could expect him to win.
So the benefits would be to the political class, not the taxpayer. Further benefits would accrue to those whose job includes convincing the political class to vote them money, encouraging and enabling more crony capitalism. Think how much easier it would be for groups like the Chamber and their associates, if they only had one board to convince to vote for their designs on the tax revenues. Be assured, your taxes won’t go down if there are any savings to be had through consolidation, because the increased spending will more than offset any potential savings.
Foxx pretends he would hold county spending in line. Perhaps he has a naive idea about the pressure CMS and their supporters, including the Chamber, will put on him to vote money to CMS. Seriously, the major portion of county debt has been incurred by CMS’s building program, which the Chamber has regularly supported with multi-million-dollar advertising campaigns.
Perhaps Foxx imagines that tax increment financing will be cheaper with a consolidated government? Sorry, that’s a favorite of the crony capitalist class. They worked for years getting it passed.
One of the fears of consolidation is the fact that government bureaucrats and politicians will have even more authority. Being full-time employees, they will work on long-term plans to waste taxpayers’ money on schemes they will never be held responsible for. The Chamber will guide them along and give them moral support because crony capitalism depends on politicians spending tax revenues on projects that are not in the realm of good government.
City Fair was a waste of taxpayer money. Who was held responsible? The NASCAR museum is a waste. Who is held responsible? CMS built schools they didn’t need and have now closed the extra ones. Who is held responsible? This is the nature of crony capitalist government. Whitewater? Who benefited from the CharlotteTown Mall rework?
The bureaucrats join with the connected business people and decide how to spend taxpayer money. If the project is financially successful, the private company wins. If it is not, the taxpayer loses and the politicians, bureaucrats and crony capitalists making the decision to spend the money keep getting paid. It’s a wonderful life.
If we get consolidation, the crony capitalists will have fewer people to convince of their subsidies. Expect more waste and more projects to support the “correct” businesses. Expect your taxes to go up and for your representatives to be less available, and even less receptive to the idea of fiscal responsibility, than they already are.
Consolidation is a bad idea for the taxpayer. Expect Foxx and company to continue their support.
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