Los Angeles City Controller Wendy Greuel warned this week that the city's general fund could run out of money and fall $10 million into the red by May 5 unless the Los Angeles Department of Water & Power transfers a planned $73.5 million payment it has so far said it would withhold...But wait, don't worry, there's a solution on the horizon!
The Los Angeles utility, the nation's largest municipal utility, said it wasn't making the payment because the city council earlier this month failed to approve substantial increases in electricity rates.
Utility officials say they need those higher rates to help cover the costs of investing in renewable energy, such as wind and solar, that are mandated by state and municipal laws.
On Wednesday, City Councilman Greig Smith moved to put a measure on next March's ballot that would ask voters to allow it to shift control of the utility—and its massive budget—under the auspices of the council.Outstanding! The government will mandate "green" energy requirements, remove the utility's ability to pay for them and then when the budget falls apart, they will absorb the utility. The fiscally insolvent government will force the utility into fiscal insolvency and then subsume it making an even bigger fiscally insolvent entity! Yay!
Now would be a good time for Henry Waxman to call a hearing to find out why bigger numbers are bigger than smaller numbers. That sounds discriminatory to me, if not out-and-out racist.
2 comments:
KT,
Excellent post and very funny. If you look at municipal governments, they may all be headed the way of Greece; see your earlier post. They may turn out to be the canary in the coal mine. I sold my muni bond fund a year ago, thankful that my adviser got me out.
It's very oppressive of big numbers being bigger than small numbers.
The Legislature should do something about that!
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