Public Watchdog.org

It’s The Same Old Song

01.23.08

Last week Gov. Rod Blagojevich agreed to a mass transit funding bailout that will raise the sales tax in Cook County and several collar counties served by the mass transit system.  But “Hot Rod” Blago, ever the calculating politician, attached a $30 million “string” to his deal: Senior citizens will get free rides on our mass transit systems. 

Anybody who stops to think about this even momentarily might wonder about the relationship of a sales tax increase to free transit for seniors.  There is none – Blago just wanted to pander to a heavy-voting special interest group with another entitlement.  “But what about all those seniors who will be paying the higher sales tax but don’t ride public transportation” you might ask?  Blago and his brain-trust are counting on nobody thinking past the superficial “for the seniors” gloss and being able to see just what dubious public policy it really is. 

Thinking about this particular “for the seniors” pandering by Blago reminds us of another “senior” entitlement at a local level, one we wrote briefly about several weeks ago (“Some New Year’s Resolutions For 2008”):

For the Park Ridge Senior Center Members:  Get rid of your sense of entitlement. While your approximately 1,200 members shamelessly pay a paltry $22 in annual membership “dues,” the Park Ridge Park District is burning through almost $150,000 of our tax dollars each year to give you what amounts to a private club. And a number of you aren’t even Park Ridge taxpayers!

The Park Ridge Senior Center, owned and operated by the Park Ridge Recreation and Park District, is also supported in part by tax dollars from other governmental bodies such as the City of Park Ridge and Maine Township, as well as by charitable foundations like the Park Ridge Community Fund.

In the past few weeks the Senior Center got some well-deserved kudos in both of our local newspapers for some 30 or so of its members making 54 blankets for wounded soldiers coming home from Iraq.  Although we question the wisdom of that war, we are staunch supporters of those sent to fight it and believe they deserve the very best this country has to offer – in supplies, equipment and medical treatment while they’re over there, and in medical treatment, education, training, employment and support services upon their return. 

But we do question the cost-to-benefit ratio of the Senior Center, at least in connection with the way it has been operating for at least the past decade.  That’s because not only is the building’s use limited solely to seniors, but it’s membership is only around 1,200 seniors, a significant percentage of whom aren’t even Park District residents and taxpayers. 

That wouldn’t be so bad but for one very troubling fact: The operations of the Senior Center have been burning through hundreds of thousands of our tax dollars.  The Park District is estimating an almost $183,000 loss for 2007 alone!  At that rate, one could argue that the taxpayers simply gave more than $150 to each of those 1,200 members in 2007; or that those 54 blankets cost us almost $3,400 apiece!  And for 2008, the Park District is budgeting [pdf] a $188,000 operating loss!!  Why?

One reason is that those Senior Center members pay ridiculous “membership dues” of $30* per year, apparently to try to maintain the charade that they aren’t really receiving welfare from the District’s taxpayers.  That’s less than the cost of a Sam’s Club membership, for crying out loud.  If that was kicked up to only $100 a year – less than 28 cents a day, still an incredible bargain for having their own clubhouse – the red ink from the Senior Center could be cut in half.  

And seniors, don’t even think about playing that “we’ve paid taxes here all our lives” card with us – because we’re not pandering politicians willing to buy that tripe in order to buy your votes.  A majority of you are probably sitting on more net assets than most of the non-senior households in town, starting with that house you bought 30-40 years ago that’s appreciated 8-10% per year on average.  And you already got a full return on your taxes, and then some, from all that taxpayer-subsidized public education and recreation your kids got (and your grandkids are now getting?).

If you want discounts just because you’re still breathing after all these years, be content with the early-bird specials at places like Denny’s that only have to answer to their stockholders.  Otherwise, it’s time to get off the public dole and start paying the costs of what you use.  Or you should start sharing that facility with other Park District customers and activities.
 
If we have any hope of stopping government from shoving its hand ever deeper into our pockets we need to start distinguishing “essential government services” from all the amenities and frills that some special interest or other wants – and too often gets from the unprincipled politicians who are continually trying to buy their popularity with our money. 

In the case of the Senior Center, the hard cold fact is that there’s nothing “essential” about that seniors-only playhouse on Western Avenue that warrants it getting a $188,000 handout from the taxpayers this year…or any other year.

* CORRECTION: We originally listed the annual dues as $22, but that was the old rate (although the new rate is also cheaper than a Sam’s Club membership).  We apologize for the error.