MATC Draft Budget Includes 6.2% increase in Spending

Heh.

The Milwaukee Area Technical College 2009 draft budget calls for a 4.9% increase in the property tax levy, mostly to pay for increased costs in salaries and benefits.

[...]

The proposed $333 million budget would increase spending by 6.2% over what the college budgeted for fiscal year 2008. Last year, the college budgeted $314 million, but it ended up spending about $17 million more than that in borrowed, non-taxpayer funds to pay for ongoing construction projects, said MATC Vice President for Finance Michael Sargent.

I’d advise you to call the relevant elected officials to lobby against this now, but the MATC board is unelected. 

1. For the record ALL Technical college boards are unelected. 

   To the critics of this.  If you legitimately think that these unpaid jobs would get filled through the election process I encourage you to get the change made and then try to find qualified candidates to fill the positions on a consistent basis.

   Posted by on May 21, 2008 at 0734 hrs




2. Taxation without Representation…

   Posted by on May 21, 2008 at 1156 hrs




3. To the critics of this.  If you legitimately think that these unpaid jobs would get filled through the election process I encourage you to get the change made and then try to find qualified candidates to fill the positions on a consistent basis

   .

   So, why not just pay them, then.  I think the representation would be well worth that cost.  I think WB School District pays $500 a month, they had no shortage of candidates, and they put in a heck of a lot more time than MATC Board members.

   MATC has 9 Board members.  They also have 3 subcommittees of 3 members each (Finance, Education, and Public TV).  So, that is about 2 meetings per month average (there are a few special ones here and there).  The regular Board meetings average about 1 1/2 hours (5:00 to 6:30 - sometimes a little longer - the January meeting went to 8:00).  The subcommittee meetings seem to be about the same.  (Go to http://www.matc.edu/about/people/minutes20072008.html and click on Minutes to see how long the meetings go).

   So, if you paid 9 members $500 a month, that would cost $54,000 a year, and they would be getting at least $50 an hour (assuming there are duties outside of the meetings, otherwise they would be getting $150 an hour based on meeting attendance).  If you figured $250 a month, that would be $27,000 a year & then they would be making at least $25 an hour (or $75 based on meeting hours only).

   $54,000 on a 333Million budget doesn’t even show a decimal point on my calculator.  It is only $24,000 more than the $30,000 that MATC spent on laptop computers for the Germantown library.

   I think the payback to taxpayers to have that representation would be more than justified by the expense of paying board members, and the pay is such that I don’t think there would be any trouble fielding candidates ("qualified" or not).

   Posted by on May 21, 2008 at 1233 hrs




4. The down side to electing the board is that you take away the guarantee that you will have the diversity of representation that you currently have.  currently you need to have a minority rep, labor rep, an employer, an employee and a superintendent.  there are more I just don’t remember all of them off the top of my head.  Also, currently the representation is based on population.  In the area that the college covers representatives are selected according to the amount of people in that county.  Higher population counties get more representation.  Currently the members are appointed by county board chairmen and school board presidents.  so, it could be argued that there is some say in how the people get nominated because the people who nominate are elected.  Weak argument I know.  The system works well right now.

   By the way the board members in West Bend are paid $2000/year.  That is $166/ month and the people that I know on the board put in about 25-30 hours a month. Figure that hourly rate and see if you want the job.

   Posted by on May 21, 2008 at 1255 hrs




5. Sorry about trying to rely on my memory about WB School district - might be my township or City that pays $500 a month.  Obviously, the issue of how much pay comes with the position is irrelevant - I will correct the above to ”I think WB School District pays $166 a month, they had no shortage of candidates, and they put in a heck of a lot more time than MATC Board members.” In March of 2007, 14 applicants expressed an interest in MATC appointments (http://www.jsonline.com/story/index.aspx?id=575222)

   As to Board make-up requirements, I think that was set by state law when technical schools were set up in Wisconsin.  That was a long time ago, times change, yada-yada.

   We had this discussion here before, but the current makeup of the MATC Board is basically:  an employee of the Milwaukee Fire Dept.; Housing Authority City of Milwaukee; Jeanette Bell (was/is Mayor of City of West Allis); Zoological Society of Milwaukee (is a nonprofit - not sure what relationship is to Milwaukee County); a WI State Representative; Milwaukee Public School System; WI Dept of Workforce Development; a lawyer; and Germantown School Superintendent.  (http://matc.edu/about/people/board.html)

   So, if it were possible to add up the salaries of all the above, it would be interesting to know what percentage of their incomes comes from a non governmental revenue source.  I might be the only one here, but to I don’t see much representation of the average taxpayer.  Is this by design?

   Posted by on May 21, 2008 at 1417 hrs




6. When the government first created this monstrosity we told the gov. that it wouldn’t work.  The spending would skyrocket as there were not any brakes on the machine.  We recomended that the employees be under the state and that the whole state be one system like the University with a cabinet member to govern it so that the governor would have control and take responsibility.  It is a mess. 
   Teachers in this system mak more than University professors for teaching 6th grade algebra and on.  Their beneifts are mountainous.
   This will never change unless the public demands it and so far they haven’t.
   After all the big teachers pay is “ for the children”.  Also they vote democrat and are buddies with the dems.

   Posted by on May 21, 2008 at 1504 hrs