Now that it has passed what is going to be done to compinsate for the loss? Where will Local governments in towns that rely on the MVET get their money what is being cut in other places aside from the actual road construction hold offs??

-- Michelle (A1spiffyme@aol.com), November 03, 1999

Answers

Budget. Cut the fat.

Yes, it's that simple.

-- Jim DeFord (jimdeford@home.com), November 03, 1999.

1. Zero-base the budget.

2. Prioritize

3. REvisit the sales-tax equalization account.

4. Cut/layoff personnel.

That's for starters.

Westin

"Ever damned day's a holiday... ever meal, a banquet."

-- Westin (86se4sp@my-deja.com), November 03, 1999.

Michelle: What do the rest of us have to do when we see a reduction in our income or increase in our monthly expenses?. The answers are very simple and have been layed out in other responses to your question.

1. Prioritize 2. Cut waste/fat 3. Do without luxury items 4. Conserve 5. Look for ways to do things cheaper 6. Don't let yourslef get caugt up in the "poor me" syndrome.

From a personal standpoint, 6 months ago, our household income dropped by 25% instantly. But funny thing, there is still food on the table, money for the occasional "splurge", clothes on our backs, gas in the cars and the kids are healthy, well fed and happy. How did we do this? Simple... we sat down after "the event" and looked at our finances. We found ways to save, ways to reduce expenses, identified things we could easily do without and even agreed that, if needed, we could dip into our savings account for emergencies (which hasn't happened yet).

Whether you are an individual, a family, a small business, a multinational corporation of a governmental body, the same formula would apply. All the pols have to do is stop their complaining, roll up their sleeves and take a SERIOUS look at the budget. It's not that hard!

Good day to all!

-- just a guy (torijosh@yahoo.com), November 03, 1999.

1. Decrease transit funding until the farebox recovery (user fees used for operating expenses) in Washington State are equal to those in the REST of the country, about 40% (they're currently between 6% and 21%). 2. Decrease subsidies to the ferries by converting them to a publically owned corporation like BC ferries has. Heck, maybe you could contract BC Ferries to run them. BC Ferries only required a 6% subsidy last year, rather than 80% plus. 3. Ashcan Sound Transit. $100 million per mile for a light rail system designed to avoid Southcenter (too much competition for downtown businesses), travel at 14 miles per hour, and do nothing that couldn't be done by buses, never did make any sense. If it came in on time and on budget, it was supposed to be 2 cents a passenger mile (4%) cheaper than doing the same thing with buses, AFTER you write off the $2.1 BILLION capital investment. It's BEHIND SCHEDULE and OVER BUDGET. The Tacoma light rail system is a toy, less than two miles long, tossed in as a bone to the Pierce County folks. A big parking garage would solve their problems a WHOLE lot cheaper. The SOUNDER is a rip off to give Burlington Northern a third of a billion dollars in track improvements, allow freight trains to run 60 mph through the downtowns of Auburn, Kent, and Puyallup, all to satisfy some WSDOT planners pipe dream of restoring rail passenger service viability between Oregon and BC. This ought to be killed for safety reasons alone. How would you like 60 mph freight trains and 80 mph passenger trains running through your downtown areas? It too is behind schedule and over budget, soon to become even more over budget when BN says that they couldn't possibly allow commuter trains to use the downtown train tunnel without additional ventilation and evacuation routes.

These'll do for a start.

-- Craig Carson (craigcar@crosswinds.net), November 03, 1999.

That's a good list. What I don't get is... why would they do all of that when they can simply do LESS of whatever they do today? They don't have time to do even one of those things before Jan 1.

-- Joe Campbell (joecampbell76@hotmail.com), November 03, 1999.