Among Items on DeMaio’s List: 359% Mark-Ups on Air Filters, $2 Million in Cash-for-Vacation Payouts, and 113 Largely Unused City Vehicles
You may have heard of the $10,000 toilet seat that the federal government bought, but have you heard about the 359% mark up on an air filter paid by the City of San Diego?
The air filter mark-up is one example of dozens of categories of wasteful spending outlined today in a report issued by City Councilmember Carl DeMaio.
Proving that the financial problems persist at City Hall, DeMaio’s report identifies over $130 million in wasteful and unnecessary spending by city departments.
“Some city politicians say there is no waste left to cut in the budget, but this report shows over $130 million in wasteful spending at taxpayers’ expense still going on at City Hall,” DeMaio commented.
The report comes just two weeks after DeMaio’s analysis of the Mayor’s proposed budget entitled “Still Swimming in Red Ink,” which found that the city will run an operating deficit of at least $50 million and a whopping $318 million service level deficit.
Despite DeMaio pointing out the deficit for the current year, the City is poised to provide $800,000 in additional “leave time” for city employees – providing an extra 16 hours of paid time off for the coming year.
DeMaio put the waste identified in his report into perspective, noting the positive impact taxpayers could achieve if those wasted funds were properly spent each year.
“If we eliminated this waste, we could immediately fund the maintenance deficit this year for San Diego’s roads and infrastructure,” DeMaio noted.
“If city politicians are serious about restoring services and fixing our crumbling infrastructure, they must commit to fully cutting waste and implementing reforms,” DeMaio concluded.
DeMaio has outlined millions of dollars in savings in his Roadmap to Recovery Plan – which can be found at www.SanDiego.gov/cd5.