Post by Joe Cocker on Jul 27, 2012 23:16:56 GMT -5
The next election we have, we have to fire anyone that caused these problem in all 700 plus departments.
www.sfgate.com/default/article/California-racks-up-millions-in-late-fees-3742197.php
Jennifer Gollan, Bay Citizen
Updated 08:37 p.m., Friday, July 27, 2012
If you've ever paid a bill after it was due, you're familiar with late fees.
It turns out the state of California is familiar with them, too.
The state paid more than $34.3 million in penalties for overdue bills from July 2004 through June 2011, according to new figures from California's Department of General Services, the state's business manager.
The state accrued a third of those late fees - more than $11.7 million - in the 2010-11 fiscal year.
Some of those fees could have been avoided if former Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger and the Legislature had agreed to a budget by July 1, 2010, as required by the state Constitution, said Eric Lamoureux, a spokesman for the Department of General Services. Lawmakers approved the budget 100 days after the start of the 2010-11 fiscal year, preventing some departments from paying their bills on time.
"We cannot speak to all the reasons all these penalties were incurred by the previous administration, but historically, late budgets have left departments unable to pay their bills on time," Lamoureux said.
Budget battles aren't the only cause of late payments. After a federal receiver took over the state's inmate medical services in March 2006, overdue bills stacked up, largely because the prison agency didn't have enough accounting staffers, said Nancy Kincaid, a spokeswoman for the Office of the Receiver for California Correctional Health Care Services.
As a result, the Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation paid a total of $2.5 million for 11,580 late payments in the 2008-09 fiscal year, according to General Services Department documents.
"Yes, there have been mistakes in the past," Kincaid said. "It was a big, giant mess."
The health care services staff began using an electronic tracking system for invoices in fiscal 2009-10, which has helped cut down on overdue bills, Kincaid said.
Critics say the state has no excuse for failing to pay its bills on time.
"We shouldn't really ever be doing this, but particularly when we are in a fiscal crisis, it's especially problematic," said Jessica Levinson, an associate clinical professor at Loyola Law School in Los Angeles.
"When you are using the taxpayers' money, there is a responsibility to act with reasonable care," Levinson said. "It is really inappropriate to be tardy in paying bills when it's costing so much in late fees."
The Bay Citizen is part of the independent, nonprofit Center for Investigative Reporting. For more, go to www.baycitizen.org. E-mail: jgollan@baycitizen.org
www.sfgate.com/default/article/California-racks-up-millions-in-late-fees-3742197.php
www.sfgate.com/default/article/California-racks-up-millions-in-late-fees-3742197.php
Jennifer Gollan, Bay Citizen
Updated 08:37 p.m., Friday, July 27, 2012
If you've ever paid a bill after it was due, you're familiar with late fees.
It turns out the state of California is familiar with them, too.
The state paid more than $34.3 million in penalties for overdue bills from July 2004 through June 2011, according to new figures from California's Department of General Services, the state's business manager.
The state accrued a third of those late fees - more than $11.7 million - in the 2010-11 fiscal year.
Some of those fees could have been avoided if former Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger and the Legislature had agreed to a budget by July 1, 2010, as required by the state Constitution, said Eric Lamoureux, a spokesman for the Department of General Services. Lawmakers approved the budget 100 days after the start of the 2010-11 fiscal year, preventing some departments from paying their bills on time.
"We cannot speak to all the reasons all these penalties were incurred by the previous administration, but historically, late budgets have left departments unable to pay their bills on time," Lamoureux said.
Budget battles aren't the only cause of late payments. After a federal receiver took over the state's inmate medical services in March 2006, overdue bills stacked up, largely because the prison agency didn't have enough accounting staffers, said Nancy Kincaid, a spokeswoman for the Office of the Receiver for California Correctional Health Care Services.
As a result, the Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation paid a total of $2.5 million for 11,580 late payments in the 2008-09 fiscal year, according to General Services Department documents.
"Yes, there have been mistakes in the past," Kincaid said. "It was a big, giant mess."
The health care services staff began using an electronic tracking system for invoices in fiscal 2009-10, which has helped cut down on overdue bills, Kincaid said.
Critics say the state has no excuse for failing to pay its bills on time.
"We shouldn't really ever be doing this, but particularly when we are in a fiscal crisis, it's especially problematic," said Jessica Levinson, an associate clinical professor at Loyola Law School in Los Angeles.
"When you are using the taxpayers' money, there is a responsibility to act with reasonable care," Levinson said. "It is really inappropriate to be tardy in paying bills when it's costing so much in late fees."
The Bay Citizen is part of the independent, nonprofit Center for Investigative Reporting. For more, go to www.baycitizen.org. E-mail: jgollan@baycitizen.org
www.sfgate.com/default/article/California-racks-up-millions-in-late-fees-3742197.php