Turning a Trash Dump into Usable Space

Kudos to my local Solid Waste Authority here in Horry County, South Carolina. They’re undertaking a huge project to turn closed landfills into usable greenspace. Great job, guys!

Government Inefficiency Floats Upstream

Here’s a shining example of how the government, specifically my local government here in Horry County, forces the rest of us to take an active part in the time dump known as government inefficiency.

On my property tax statement for my vehicles there is the following verbiage…

After seeing this the first time, I expected to turn the paper over and see the qualifications for the discount. Nope, but I still look every year hoping it’ll actually be there. Here’s what’s on the back…

Whabamm! It’s not a list of the qualifications. It’s an invite to visit your local Auditor’s office. Here’s a cost breakdown for you to find out about the discount…

Number of minutes for a round trip commute to the closest Auditor’s office + (number of miles for the round trip x cost of gasoline per gallon) + number of minutes waiting in line at the Auditor’s office = TOTAL WASTE OF TIME AND MONEY FOR BOTH YOU AND THE AUDITOR’S STAFF.

Now, just to be fair, I checked Auditor Lois Eargle’s page on the Horry County website to see if they offered us the information that might save someone a trip to the office. I figured they could save some ink and printing cost by not placing the chart on the bill, but by placing it on the website. Here’s what it said under the FAQ’s page…

• How can I get a high mileage discount on my vehicle? You must bring your actual mileage into one of our offices in the month in which your taxes are due. We will look up your information and give you a discount if you qualify.

I’ll let you decide though. Good use of your time or poor use of it? Inefficient or not?

Tear That Mother Down!

I’ve decided that the best case scenario for the Town of Surfside Beach (SC) in regards to their pier and the non-existent pier restaurant is to hope that a hurricane comes through this season and wipes both off the landscape. Both structures have been a thorn in the sides of the town government, the local citizenry, and the tourists ever since the Town bought the pier. This is a glaring example of how private enterprise can almost always, 99.9% of the time, do pretty much everything better than the government.

At least if a storm comes through and washes it away, it will accomplish several beneficial factors…

1. Provide jobs for demolition and clean-up in the off-season
2. Provide construction jobs in the off-season
3. Get us a brand new pier and empty restaurant
4. Allow for people to grab washed up pieces of the pier for artwork, souvenirs, and sales on eBay
5. Give people something interesting to look at and photograph
6. and more…

Now, all of this is contingent on one single factor that would seem common sense, but honestly wouldn’t surprise me if the Town screwed it up. The pier has to be insured. I know. I know. But would it really surprise you if they forgot about that?

More Financial Rape at the Horry County Clerk of Court’s Office

So, the Horry County Clerk of Court’s office in my home state of SC decided to put more records online. Sounds pretty good on the surface doesn’t it? I’ll say yes, but only on the surface. Leave it to small government to do something stupid and self-serving rather than people serving. Let me explain…

I have a problem with governments from the smallest to the largest trying to make extra money off the backs of the people. Seriously, if the tax system was set up correctly and entitlements were kept to a reasonable level, then county government wouldn’t have to rape people who want to make a few copies at the clerk’s office. I am absolutely a fan of charging a reasonable cost for copies, research, etc at times, but not for charging above market cost in an attempt to fund budget shortfalls and overzealous welfare programs. For the most part, I believe government should be a zero sum game. Money in, money out with a reasonable amount for emergencies, savings, and investment in the future. It’s pretty much how most people run their businesses.

Here’s the skinny on Horry County’s latest failed brainstorm…

The cost of copies at the clerk’s office doubled this month from $.25 to $.50 per page. I pay much less than that down the street at Office Depot. I guess the thinking is that you control the information, so you can control the access to it and charge whatever you like.

Prices were lower at the Clerk’s office than at other County offices and the other offices weren’t happy with this. People walked down the hall to make copies at the cheaper price.

More records are now available online, but still at a cost. Also, with the online records you have to print the entire document, not just the relevant pages you need. Want to copy a property deed, here’s all 40 pages that you’ll pay for just to get page #12. You also have the privilege of using your own ink.

The idea is that it’ll save people time to do it at home, even if they end up killing more trees, using up their own ink, and paying the same per page cost.

 The County plans on bringing in about $650K a year in copies. Didn’t some of your tax money already pay for this?

All very stupid.

Here’s one example of how this will hurt the average County taxpayer. Say you need some help from an attorney. Instead of wasting time heading over to the clerk’s office to make copies, he’s going to print the whole thing. Now he’s going to make you pay for all of those needless copies in addition to whatever cost he charges for making copies on his machine in addition to the time it takes for the paralegal to sit there and watch copies flop out the business end of the printer. You just raised your legal bill by a few hundred bucks to much more depending on the case.

Here’s the fix…Charge a reasonable amount for copies. Charge a reasonable amount for research if it’s needed. Allow us to print off only the pages needed. Charge a reduced amount for copies made from the online records to encourage people to do it at home or in the office. This will ease the work burden on the Clerk of Court’s office and eventually allow you to cut costs as more and more people use the online sources.

It’s really simple, folks. I guess that’s why it doesn’t happen.

Let’s all make it hard on them until they make some changes. If you can spare the time, go to the Clerk’s office and make them get up and hit the big old start button on the copier. Refuse to use the online service until they make the needed changes and use technology in an efficient manner instead of the most arcane way possible.