Even in Canada, in regards to the allocation of hardly-earned, and paid tax dollars, people have their misgivings. Particularly, many are at odds with the payrolls, however ‘fair’ or exorbitant they may be, of those who work in the public sector, and who make their respective livings from these accrued expenses. In June 2012, this issue was brought to light in ‘The Economist,’ where an article touched on Sao Paulo, Brazil, and the salaries, published by the city’s legislature, of some of its 2000 employees. http://www.economist.com/node/21556916
The newly-found results? Half of the 700 people named were found out to have been taking more home each month than the assembly’s chairman, who’s monthly income was roughly 7,223 reais ($3,508) after tax. As well as parking attendants, the ‘beneficiaries’ included press officers, even a nurse whose monthly income was 18,300 reais (12 times the private sector wage). Pay cheques were boosted by annual increments, bonuses for long periods of service, and the practice of claiming substantial pensions in one’s early 50’s, and continuing to work a job.
Shocking? Perhaps… and yet this is all too familiar isn’t it; taxpayers being robbed by bureaucrats… in this case, Sao Paulo’s public sector reaping the benefits of its prevailing economic situation. Is there not something fundamentally wrong in a nation where doctors and engineers feel inclined to pass a public test, and become a civil servant, in order for them to earn more than a fax machine operator in some tribunal….where the private sector then sorely suffers, and with it, opportunities for new growth industries and development?
Prevalent in Sao Paulo, and yet just another instance of tax dollars being exploited. What could feasibly be done to ‘fix’ this problem?