There's a Reason Why a Bull Is In the Suffolk County Seal ....
Like I said last week, SC6 has kind of changed gears a bit. We're in New York again, and for the forseeable future, we will be. Politically, economically and to an extent socially, New York and South Carolina are very different. Yeah, a place that charges $7-10,000 a year on property taxes usually is. But, as time goes on, that gap has closed a lot. For some people, New York is the example to follow, rather than a cautionary tale of how local and state government can get out of control. So, out job now is to give you a birdseye view of political life in the Empire State, and hope to show you what a city or county government SHOULDN'T do....
As you know, tomorrow is Election Day. Newsday, the local paper, printed out it's voter guide yesterday, so that maybe voters will go to the polls slightly more informed than usual. It's an excellent and complete job that they did - but there was one eye-popping bit of info they gave: the salaries of local elected officials.
In Suffolk County, NY, the county government is similar, but there are no city governments. They are broken up into townships, but they function the same. Once difference on the county level is that there are 18 - yes 18 - county legislators. Twice as many as Florence County, SC. Yes, it is a bigger county both in population and size, but they have pretty small sized districts to represent. A word of warning: if you are Dean Fowler or Kenney Boone, please have a paper bag handy, because the salaries I'm about to list are going to make you puke......
Suffolk County District Attorney - $171,622
County Sheriff - $175,586
County Treasurer - $171,622
District Court Judge - $122,700
County Legislator - $91,167
The duties these guys have are no different than what they do anywhere else. Yes, it does cost more to live here, but the county legislator amount should make you sick. Florence County recently jacked the councilman's salary 25% - to $12,500 annually - and people went berserk. But, that is about what a local legislator should make. It's a part-time job, where the motivation should be public service and interest in your community. Florence County spends barely more to pay it's ENTIRE county council than Suffolk spends for one - about SIXTEEN TIMES LESS.... On the town level, it's no better. There are seven townships, and here are a few examples...
Brookhaven Town Supervisor - $112,699
Town Clerk - $92,386
Town Council - $67,986
Town Highway Superintendent - $98,534
Riverhead Town Supervisor - $115,147.22
Town Clerk - $72,386
Town Highway Superintendent - $81,844
Town Council - $47, 898
Town Assessor - $81,717
Southampton Town Supervisor - $102,000
Town Highway Super - $97,000
Town Justice - $67,100
Town Clerk - $97,000
Town Council - $60,000 Part Time.
This is why New York Congressmen rarely get voted out. Seriously, why go through the hassle and expense of running for Congress when you can fly under the radar as a Town Councilman for eternity, and pull half the money part time? Imagine paying Ed Robinson $60,000 a year to do what he does...... THAT would be an outrage! Yes, they actually pay a guy $98,000 a year to sit on his ass, and make sure the roads are cleared of snow, and oversee road paving jobs. Give me that gig in a heartbeat, buddy.....
It doesn't end there. These are just the elected jobs. Just think of the dozens of appointed patronage jobs that are given out.... Unions are a big part of the problem here. If a third year cop in the Sheriff's Office is making $80,000, how can you not pay the guy in charge $175,000? But, the garbage does get picked up twice a week, the schools are good, there are TWO parks within a half mile of my house, and I haven't seen a pothole since I got here. You pay more, you get more - maybe not 20 times more, but more......
If this sounds foreign to some of you, take a trip down to Myrtle Beach or Hilton Head, where all the Long Island retirees end up, and see what's going on with property taxes there. There are people who think that this is how it SHOULD be done.... Like the ghost of Christmas Past and Present all rolled into one, I showing you, Scrooge, what your future will be like if South Carolina continues to allow it's governments to get bloated and wasteful....
www.youtube.com/watch?v=34w8xqFz3eU&feature=related
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9 comments:
I grew up on Long Island too and have enjoyed all your pics and especially your insights about high taxes and bloated government. So many LI towns that were great middle class places to live have become, like Manhattan, only for the very rich or the poor. Thanks for great posts; keep them coming!
Shhhhh !!!! Don't tell them you're a Yankee, Daniel! It's great getting praise from the top ranked blogger in SC.
Yes, it is crazy here. I grew up in Brentwood, where it now costs $275,000 a year and $5k in taxes to own a house, while still dodging the MS-13 gangs running rampant. I'm very fortunate to have better options available.
Um Mike, what happened to your football teams? The paper planes got shot down by the fish and the midgets got whipped by the tweaty birds, and both were on national TV! Lucky the Yankees won last night or the NY papers would have blamed all this on Bush. Opps he's out of office..guess it's the GOP's fault...
Yes, it IS a vast right-wing conspiracy.... I wish I could say that's true, but the Jets need to learn how to cover kickoffs, and the G-Men just flat out suck right now. Newsday grades all the facets of the team each week. They got F's all around today !
Now we know why NY taxes are so high. So many politicians to support.
When you going to run for something Mike.
Hey Mike, thought you might be interested in the Florence County Election results.....we lost our conservative Mayor Betty Sims in Olanta....and the Florence Four School Board (AKA Timmonsville)has a new Democrat Board member and it is not me....coming in second is getting to be a real habit for me....Betty
Sorry to hear that Betty. Timmonsville isn't the easiest place to run with an 'R' next to your name...
The only thing involving me and running for office is me running from running for office!
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