Poll: Police Detail or Road Flagger

[smoterh.livejournal.com]

[Poll #1577209]

Comments

[pierceheart.livejournal.com]

And a key thing to remember is that when it is NOT a government agency performing the work that has a detail cop, the comany pays MORE than the cop's rate to the city that provides the cop - administrative fees that fill the coffer of the city ... few of the politicians who oppose details want us to pay attention to that nugget.

[wallacestreet.livejournal.com]

This administrative fee is a hidden tax. We're paying the state to pay the companies to do the roadwork or we're paying higher rates to NSTAR or whatever. Not that I'm against filling city coffers, but I'd prefer it to be done with direct fees and taxes whose benefits can be debated rather than through the back door like this.

sorry for the multiple edits

[pierceheart.livejournal.com]

Tell me this - if NSTAR didn't have to pay for flaggers or detail cops, do you think your rates would actually go down? That's more confrontation than I want to express.

I do not think that lowering the cost to providers automatically translates to reduced costs to consumers.

Once a major corporation has its hooks into you, they don't lower their charges if their costs are lower - look at the ever increasing cost of rate plans for AT&T, with reduced services provided: they used to offer an "unlimited" smart phone data plan (actually had a 5gb/month limit which they usually never charged on) with unlimited texting for $50/month.

Their new Data Pro Plan costs $25/month, and gives you 2GB/month, $10 for each GB over that each month, no messaging included.
$20 for unlimited messaging
So, they have reduced the demand on their system (their cost) by killing unlimited data plans, and, to get the same service I used to have, it will cost me $75/month.