[TRU Research] Discrepencies between Budget Archives and Open Data

Wed Jun 10 18:55:58 PDT 2020

I made it "tall" so scroll down to see part 2. This seems to be the fashion
with web stuff now, rather than tabs, for instance.

On Wed, Jun 10, 2020 at 6:53 PM Jim Walseth <jim.walseth at gmail.com> wrote:

> 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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