[Grovenet] Reflections on Minority Rule

[David Morelli]

On May 18, 2007, at 11:20 AM, Martha Khoury wrote:

> Maybe we should go back to the subscription fire service that they  
> used to have. That way, those who are willing to foot the bill will  
> get the service. --Martha K.


That does work, and it is fair.  Likely it would be more expensive  
than the current system.

For example, I just did some research on a category of public  
philanthropies.  They solicit donors and provide a service to their  
target group.  In this case the target group was American veterans.   
The veterans received anywhere from $0.02 to $0.60 from every dollar  
collected.  The rest went to the administrative overhead and the cost  
of solicitation.

They were the "free market's" response to taking care of our service  
heroes.  Private donations and direct support of our people without  
the inefficient hand of government intrusion.  And thanks to the  
efficiencies of the free market, the people who put together the  
program, and the people who advertised and solicited the donations  
got to keep anywhere from 40% to 98% of the proceeds.

So, while it does work, it isn't necessarily less expensive.  I doubt  
that the percentage cost of collecting our city taxes and the whole  
of city administration is as great as the percentage cost of  
soliciting/collecting the donations and the administration of the  
program.  One was a $121 million per year organization and the  
director pulled a $230,000 salary plus benefits.

David