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Editorials
Operate snow plowing service like a business? : Editorials : Oswego Ledger-Sentinel : Hometown Newspaper for Oswego and Montgomery, IllinoisOperate snow plowing service like a business?
| 2/17/2011
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If previous elections are any guide, those who attend local candidate forums in the coming weeks will most likely hear candidates in the April 5 election pledge that if elected they will work to "operate government like a business."
Of course, what happens is once these candidates are elected they usually discover that the ultimate goals of government and private business are starkly different. Local government's goal is to provide services in, hopefully, an economical and affordable manner. The goal of private businesses is to turn a profit.
The Great Blizzard of 2011 provided yet another lesson in the difference between the goals of government and business.
Prior to the blizzard, Jerry Weaver, the Village of Oswego's public works director, advised the village board that his department's expenses were within budget for the current fiscal year, which ends April 30. Weaver, however, cautioned the board that his department could overspend its budget in the event of a major snowstorm. We all know what happened. The blizzard struck and Weaver and the public works department's 23 member crew logged many overtime hours attempting to keep the village's streets open during the blizzard and cleaning up after the storm had passed. In addition to the overtime hours, Weaver's department incurred extra fuel and equipment costs.
Now if the village's public works department was operating as a private business, there is a good chance the owners would have chosen not to incur the extra expense of dealing with the blizzard. To stay within budget and assure a profit at the end of the fiscal year, a private business would have ordered the snowplows back into the garage to prevent the drivers from working excessive overtime hours and limit wear on equipment.
Oswego Village President Brian LeClercq knows first-hand that's what happened in some areas of the village. He told the board the day after the blizzard that he "really got it" from some village residents and business owners who were upset because some local streets weren't plowed during the blizzard. As it turned out, the streets in question are privately owned and not the responsibility of the village to plow. The private firms that maintain those streets plowed them when they could get to them.
If LeClercq heard complaints about a few private roads not being plowed in a timely manner, we're certain that he and the rest of the village board would have been run out of town by upset local residents if the public works department was prevented from working the necessary overtime hours to plow the streets as quickly as possible.
After a major snowstorm, it's the responsibility of municipal public works directors like Weaver to tally the final cost for their snow removal operation and notify their respective finance departments and village boards or city councils of any budget overages. If the final cost exceeds the budgeted amount it's up to the finance department staff and boards or councils to find the additional revenues. (This is why auditors recommend that municipalities keep a minimum six month cash reserve on hand to cover emergency expenses resulting from event such as tornados, floods and major snowstorms.)
For municipalities, the goal will always be to provide necessary services with the available funds. And if those funds are not immediately available, revenues still must be found.
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