[TRU Research] Discrepencies between Budget Archives and Open Data

Wed Jun 10 18:53:41 PDT 2020

First sample viz

https://public.tableau.com/profile/katie.wilson8886#!/vizhome/SPDBudgetsample1/Dashboard1?publish=yes

On Wed, Jun 10, 2020 at 6:52 PM Harry Maher <harryb.maher at gmail.com> wrote:

>  Omg Ben. WHAT?
>
> And ok, I've been lazily plugging in numbers while listening to the radio
> and now preparing dinner, hope to be done at some point, but feel free to
> jump in anyone who wants this done more quickly...
>
> And that's great, Jim!!
>
> Some notes:
> - These pdfs are still v. opaque and we may have to wait until we get more
> specific details from the city council. Definitely no line item for
> "military weapons" or other definite cuts...
> - Personnel was 80% of the $398,561,697 budget in 2019 (I can't quickly
> find the % for 2020) and they report 2,172.35 FTE (with an asterisk that
> it's approximated, but...). That puts the average salary at $146,776 if I'm
> not mistaken. That's insane. I get that it's a hard job, but yeesh, also
> supposedly one of public service. Since they are city employees, I bet we'd
> be able to look at individual salaries and look at how overtime pay is
> allocated b/c I know that they get a huge chunk of their pay from overtime.
> I'm sure getting rid of overtime pay will go a very long way towards
> reducing the budget, but have no numbers to back that right now.
> - Slightly in jest, but... maybe we can completely slash the budget for
> East Precinct in addition to overtime cuts and see where that gets us. Keep
> on the facilities/maintenance/custodial staff, see what the Black community
> wants to do with the building, and reallocate those workers to the
> appropriate division(s).
>
> On Wed, Jun 10, 2020 at 6:30 PM Jim Walseth <jim.walseth at gmail.com> wrote:
>
>> I am throwing this into Tableau Public and will make a few basic samples.
>> I removed the first row which just said "adopted budget numbers" because it
>> was confusing Tableau.
>> Jim
>>
>> On Wed, Jun 10, 2020 at 3:53 PM Katie Wilson <katie at transitriders.org>
>> wrote:
>>
>>> Hey folks,
>>>
>>> Since the Open Data site is unreliable, it looks like our best bet for
>>> accurate budget data is the PDFs archived here:
>>> https://www.seattle.gov/city-budget-office/budget-archives
>>>
>>> Here is a mini-project if anyone has time for it. I created a
>>> spreadsheet here
>>> <https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1uDjqVID4gkBFfatMTM-hUbO-OAzR70Zc1-3GJEFZask/edit?usp=sharing>,
>>> where we can compile data from the *adopted budgets *(not proposed or
>>> endorsed) for SPD, human services, housing, and any other areas of
>>> interest. I think the years 2010-2020 are key, but I’ve started the
>>> spreadsheet in 2008 just to match with the recession, in case that shows us
>>> anything interesting. Filling out this spreadsheet will enable us to make a
>>> graph like the ones we were making from the Open Data site, only correct
>>> this time.
>>>
>>> I am in touch with some of the folks leading the Defund SPD effort and
>>> they would love our help digging up data and making graphs etc. that tell a
>>> good story to boost the case. So, rest assured our work on this will be
>>> useful and appreciated! For example, I was able to send along this bit
>>> earlier today, which I believe was then passed along to a councilmember via
>>> a council aide to be shared aloud during the council meeting this afternoon:
>>>
>>> The SPD budget has *increased by **43% since 2010*, *after* you account
>>> for inflation. (Not accounting for inflation, it’s a 68% increase.)
>>>
>>> Here’s the math and sources:
>>>
>>> 2020 SPD adopted budget: *$409 million* -
>>> https://www.seattle.gov/Documents/Departments/FinanceDepartment/20adoptedbudget/SPD.pdf
>>>
>>> 2010 SPD adopted budget: *$243 million* -
>>> https://www.seattle.gov/Documents/Departments/FinanceDepartment/10adoptedbudget/PUBLIC_SAFETY.pdf
>>>
>>> 2010 SPD adopted budget, injusted for inflation to 2020 dollars:* $286
>>> million* - https://www.usinflationcalculator.com
>>>
>>> Increase from 2010 to 2020, i.e. 286 to 409, is (409 - 286)/286 x 100 =
>>> *43%*
>>>
>>>
>>> - Katie
>>>
>>> On Jun 9, 2020, at 5:34 PM, Katie Wilson <katie at transitriders.org>
>>> wrote:
>>>
>>> Budget office director to the rescue, kind of...
>>>
>>> Begin forwarded message:
>>>
>>> *From: *"Noble, Ben" <Ben.Noble at seattle.gov>
>>> *Subject: **RE: Discrepencies between Budget Archives and Open Data*
>>> *Date: *June 9, 2020 at 5:31:02 PM PDT
>>> *To: *Katie Wilson <katie at transitriders.org>
>>>
>>> Katie – long and painful story here, but the Open Data site is not
>>> accurate.  I am frankly embarrassed by that reality.  Short-term we may
>>> take down the site, but obviously that is not a positive step in terms of
>>> transparency.  It was something that got set up in a rush a few years back
>>> and has been neglected since (and frankly has not been a priority in the
>>> last few months).  I say that by way of explanation not excuse.  In the
>>> term, the Budget Archives, while clunky, are the right source.  Based on
>>> your flagging of the issue, I have just asked the team whether we can get
>>> something else up in the near-term.  I will keep you posted.
>>>
>>> -ben.
>>>
>>> *From:* Katie Wilson <katie at transitriders.org>
>>> *Sent:* Tuesday, June 9, 2020 4:29 PM
>>> *To:* Noble, Ben <Ben.Noble at seattle.gov>
>>> *Subject:* Discrepencies between Budget Archives and Open Data
>>>
>>> *CAUTION: External Email*
>>> Hi Ben,
>>>
>>> Sorry to bother you with this, but I emailed the Open Data people first
>>> and they told me to ask the City Budget Office. I’m wondering why there are
>>> significant discrepencies between the Budget Archives
>>> <https://www.seattle.gov/city-budget-office/budget-archives> and the
>>> budget numbers on the Open Data site
>>> <https://openbudget.seattle.gov/#!/year/default>.
>>>
>>> To give one timely example, this Open Data page
>>> <https://openbudget.seattle.gov/#!/year/2020/operating/0/department/Police/0/service?vis=barChart> puts
>>> the 2020 SPD budget at ~$357m, whereas the number in the 2020 adopted
>>> budget
>>> <https://www.seattle.gov/Documents/Departments/FinanceDepartment/20adoptedbudget/SPD.pdf> and
>>> reported in various news articles
>>> <https://www.seattletimes.com/seattle-news/crime/after-days-of-seattle-protests-city-will-withdraw-request-to-remove-police-force-from-federal-oversight/> is
>>> $400m+. I have been digging around and making graphs and there are a lot of
>>> discrepencies like this. I understand that proposed and adopted and actual
>>> budgets are all different, but that doesn’t seem to account for it.
>>>
>>> Please feel free to direct me elsewhere if there’s someone else I should
>>> be asking about this.
>>>
>>> Thanks!
>>> Katie
>>>
>>> Katie Wilson
>>> General Secretary
>>> Transit Riders Union
>>> https://transitriders.org
>>> <https://protect2.fireeye.com/v1/url?k=23520a2f-7de29737-2352229f-86b2e136ff17-644b0fdb8c75a238&q=1&e=c19e905a-6ec5-4436-a6cd-f7acc13cf097&u=https%3A%2F%2Ftransitriders.org%2F>
>>> 206-781-7204
>>>
>>> *The Transit Riders Union is a democratic organization of working and
>>> poor people, including students, seniors, and people with disabilities,
>>> taking control over our own lives, and building up the power we need to
>>> change society for the good of humanity and of the planet. We will fight to
>>> preserve, expand, and improve the public transportation system in Seattle
>>> and beyond, so that every human being has access to safe, affordable, and
>>> reliable public transit.*
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>>
>>
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