This is the final part in our series on the first (hopefully annual) Citizen Auditors contest, which focused on what our intrepid Citizen Auditors found when they examined government spending at the local, school district and state level. Citizen Auditors is a Mothers Against Debt project that encourages taxpayers to keep a watchful eye on government. Participants won prizes based on popular vote for their entries.
Jeanette Koniecki of Loveland, Colorado asked a reasonable question: “should we be painting transformer boxes when we are laying people off?” Jeanette found that Loveland pays local artists to beautify the city’s transformer boxes. From her entry “Transforming Transformer Boxes“:
The city of Loveland is paying artists to paint our transformer boxes. So far they have done 46 boxes. They are paid between $1200.00 and $3000.00 depending on the size of the box.
Let’s do a little math here. Forty-six boxes at $1200 would be $55,200 and at $3000 that would be $138,000. Don’t get me wrong. In different economic times, I might not have an issue with this. I was told by the city clerk’s office that the city has laid off 20 people in the past two years.
Apparently voters wondered the same thing. They awarded Jeanette with first place for which she received a $2,500 check. Congratulations to all of our winners. Click here for voting results.
Next up — Citizen Auditors contests for Wisconsin and Iowa.
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