How government budgets work | GTAMotorcycle.com

How government budgets work

nobbie48

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People were tripping down a small hill at Tom Riley Park (Bloor And Islington) and asked for a set of stairs to be built.

The city said they would have to wait because of the cost, $65,000.00 to $100,000.00.

A local resident built the stairs in 14 hours with a material cost of $540.00.

The city tore them out because they didn't meet specifications but now they say the job can be done immediately for about $10,000.00

So, basically, when challenged costs can be reduced by 85% or more.

From the pictures I saw the stairs did have some design flaws but they weren't total crap.
 
It's cause gov't contracts are bloated by the ones doing the work....friends of not the politicians themselves in many cases. Or everyone else wants to make as much as them can and the least greedy(at first) gets the job, becomes a preferred resource and then inflates their prices.
 
That's the city's way of saying they don't want to do it. The story got publicity in the paper and now there's pressure to actually do it. The city has so many projects that need to be done (fixing dilapidated social housing buildings, etc.). From what I've heard this park had another accessible entrance, people just wanted to access it where the stairs were built. So, not a high priority in a city with many needs. The guy asked and he was told in bureaucratic speak that it wasn't going to happen. The city realized they had a situation where the media could blow this up, so they built the staircase for what it actually costs. The staircase the guy built was a law suit waiting to happen. He meant well, but it was going to fail.
 
The staircase the city based their budgeting on was a 7 step staircase with $20,000 in project management expenses. They need to pay for the supervisors somehow :/

The interesting part of this is apparently there is a staircase 200' away (which is currently obstructed by parking lot reconstruction). Residents were complaining about walking an extra 200'. That is in a nutshell the problem with much of Toronto. You can put an access between every house and every park. You can't build a crosswalk at every commercial building. Unfortunately, people need to realize their limitations. If you can't cross quickly, don't jaywalk. If you can't walk down the steep hill safely, go around. Now Toronto has paid 10K plus god knows how much in maintenance to save a few people a few hundred foot walk. There is no end to the amount of money that can go down that drain.
 
So people didn't want to walk... to go walk in the park?
No different than all the people that go to a gym, drive around the parking lot for 5 minutes to find the closest spot to the entrance (to save themselves 18 seconds of walking), then run on a treadmill for 35 minutes. And those aren't the new years resolution heros, they're in a class all of their own.
 
It's cause gov't contracts are bloated by the ones doing the work....friends of not the politicians themselves in many cases. Or everyone else wants to make as much as them can and the least greedy(at first) gets the job, becomes a preferred resource and then inflates their prices.

yup,

politicians are not looking out for taxpayers. An estimated 65-100k job with 20k in "management". Turns out its a 10k job...corruption, money, and benefits for all involved, or we don't want it. For many of the seniors working in the garden - 200 feet can be a difficult, if not insurmountable, walk.
Considering all, I find it odd that people focus on what they term "the lazy".

Whomever signed off on the 65-100k job estimate - should be walking down the road kicking stones......
 
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yup,

politicians are not looking out for taxpayers. An estimated 65-100k job with 20k in "management". Turns out its a 10k job...corruption, money, and benefits for all involved, or we don't want it. For many of the seniors working in the garden - 200 feet can be a difficult, if not insurmountable, walk.
Considering all, I find it odd that people focus on what they term "the lazy".

Whomever signed off on the 65-100k job estimate - should be walking down the road kicking stones......

I'm not suggesting the government rubber stamp all requests but if realistic price tags were put on projects and the ones asking for additional facilities were reasonable a lot more could be done for less. Unfortunately both the public and the civil service see the coffers as bottomless.

If these stairs were for the exclusive use of a limited group would that group consider sharing the costs? We did fund raising to put in a new safer playground for our offspring a number of years ago.

If the true project cost was $10,000.00 and a 50/50 cost sharing split was negotiated and there were 100 users it's a one time user cost of $50.00 each, not a huge amount to most. If the project is highballed at $100,000.00 the $500.00 would scare away most participants.
 

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