As they say, you don't get something for nothing. That remains true even when the subject is cutting government costs. Cutting costs by cutting public services often adds up to higher long-term public costs as well as "hidden" taxes on residents in the form of higher cost-of-living. Because the business of municipal government is public services, city budget cuts almost invariably come down to cuts in services.
One example is New York City during its 1975 financial crisis. A 2006 study in the American Journal of Public Health (AJPH) found that the budget policies and cuts designed to address the city's financial woes crisis contributed to subsequent tuberculosis and HIV epidemics, as well as higher homicide rates. The city ultimately spent over $50 billion to control these synergistic epidemics, estimate the study's authors.
And the savings from New York's budget reductions? About $10 billion.
In other words, reduced services, deteriorating living conditions, and the dismantling of public safety, health and social service infrastructure cost New York $40 billion in additional expenditures over the next two decades.
With Santa Clara currently facing a future of systemic budget deficits and increasing pension and salary costs, city residents can almost certainly expect to see cuts in the city's core services in coming years.
Despite wishful thinking about cutting "waste," in reality municipal cost-cutting equals reduced services, as well as increases in deferred maintenance and capital costs, according to former Santa Clara Director of Street and Automotive Services, Rick Mauck. "It's a case of 'pay me now or pay me later.'
"Reduced public works maintenance results in 'deferred maintenance costs,'" he explains. "This increases indirect costs to the public, and incurs greater future costs to the entire publicly financed system."
Mauck, who was with the Santa Clara Department of Public Works for nearly 30 years, explains in detail how these increased costs and liabilities that are created.
When street maintenance is cut, potholes increase, road surfaces get rougher, and street markings get worn. This, in turn, increases vehicle wear and tear, as well as the number of traffic accidents – all of which drivers and vehicle owners pay for in the forms of higher repair and insurance costs. Poorly maintained sidewalks create tripping hazards and increase the City's liability exposure and insurance costs.
"The deferred costs to repair these roadways later always comes at a higher cost," Mauck continues, "because timely on-going maintenance extends roadway life and costs much less than more significant roadway rebuilding and repair."
Deferring economically justified maintenance and capital improvements to public buildings and infrastructure also ratchets up future costs. The reasons, Mauck says, include "critical failures of equipment and infrastructure – such as gas lines, water mains, electrical power systems, and storm and sewer pipelines and pumping facilities – reduced quality of service, and increased liability."
Even services that seem "cosmetic" in fact make sound economic sense, he says.
"Deferred maintenance for the city's 30,000 trees increases City's liabilities from falling trees and branches. Deferred park maintenance increases litter and graffiti and accelerates landscape degradation – leading to lower use and increased crime. Reduced street sweeping increases litter, and creek and waterway pollution – adding to cleanup costs, and damaging the environment, degrading aesthetics, and reducing property values."
The last packs a double whammy for homeowners – first from lower sale prices, and second from reduced municipal revenues.
Reduced hours at libraries, public pools, and community centers also carries a double hit as residents pay more to replace public services with private ones.
For example, an annual family pass for Santa Clara's public pools is currently $132, and day passes are between $2.25 and $3.50. By contrast, membership at a private pool club runs about $500 – if you can join at all. The end result is a vicious cycle where reduced access in turn reduces use, which in turn reduces taxpayers' willingness to pay for public services and leads to further service reductions.
Colorado Springs and Newark Bring New Meaning to "Bring Your Own"
To see what the brave new world of "bare-bones" municipal services looks like, visit Colorado Springs, CO. The tax-averse city – and home to right-wing evangelical media company, Focus on the Family, which describes its objective as "…sharing the Gospel of Jesus Christ with as many people as possible by nurturing and defending the God-ordained institution of the family and promoting biblical truths worldwide" – has slashed services most of us don't think twice about.
A third of the city's streetlights are dark and police helicopters were put up for sale. Firefighters, burglary investigators, and beat cops were laid off. Trashcans are gone from public parks and the city no longer mows public spaces – residents are encouraged to bring their own lawn mowers to the park. Public toilets have been locked for years. During an ice storm last winter, the city didn't have enough sand and salt to keep roads open. Recreation centers, public pools, and museums ran out of funding and shut their doors for good last March.
Even Colorado Springs, however, isn't in such dire condition as Newark, NJ, which last summer stopped supplying toilet paper for City Hall restrooms. But leave it to yankee ingenuity to jump into the breach. Marc Polish, owner of N.J.-based Just Toilet Paper (www.justtoiletpaper.com) will donate a roll to Newark for every order the company receives for holiday-themed toilet paper before Dec. 15.
For more information about Santa Clara's budget, visit santaclaraca.gov (click on "Budget Update"). Printed copies are also available at the Central City Library on Homestead Road.
