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SCHENECTADY
City’s new body shop is earning its keep — and more
BY KATHLEEN MOORE Gazette Reporter
Reach Gazette reporter Kathleen Moore at 395-3120 or moore@dailygazette.com.

    The city’s new body shop will finish its first year in the black, Commissioner of General Services Carl Olsen said.
    The shop cost $148,450 to operate this year, mainly in salaries for the two workers. But it brought in $178,000, mainly by repairing county vehicles and city vehicles covered by insurance.
    “We also, in addition to that, did work on several of our own vehicles, not for insurance but to extend their life,” Olsen said.
    Eight trucks were sandblasted to remove rust before it ate holes in the steel. The trucks were then repainted, and Olsen believes regular rust-removal could double the life of the city’s expensive plows and trucks. That’s already had an impact on the budget: two trucks that cost more than $100,000, and needed to be replaced this year, were instead fixed in the body shop and are back on the road.
    The city had budgeted to bring in $131,406 in body shop revenue this year. Even that would have more than covered the two workers’ salaries. But despite bringing in $178,000, the two workers have enough body work to take up only half of their shifts. So they are spending the rest of their time working as regular mechanics for city vehicles. That means the body shop is bringing in enough money to pay for two part-time city workers.
    “It’s working,” Olsen said with some triumph. When he proposed the idea last year, some residents criticized him and predicted it would never be profitable. In response, the council agreed to a one-year trial and warned that if the shop couldn’t bring in enough revenue, it would be closed.
    Councilman Tom Della Sala asked detailed questions about the shop during a recent budget committee session. He was satisfi ed to let the shop continue.
    “We’ve more than paid for those two positions,” he said. “It’s nice to know that worked out the way we’d hoped it would work.”
    The shop made enough of a profi t that it could also roughly cover the workers’ benefits, although those aren’t included in the budget for the shop. The city budgets all benefits together rather than separating them out in each department. ................>>>>...................>>>>....................http://www.dailygazette.net/De.....r01401&AppName=1

See, I told ya pot holes are profitable for Schenectady.  It's part of the City planning.

How many are suspension and tie rod repairs?

Would LOVE LOVE LOVE to have Vince Riggi check out this 'progress'. Being in the autobody world his entire life, I'm sure Vince could enlighten the taxpayers as to the real deal on this butterfly and unicorn piece from the Gazetto.

I'm willing to bet that the figures provided are inflated and the work could have been done a lot cheaper if there were bids on the repairs. Just more smoke and mirrors.

Will these city employees be collecting taxpaid life time benefits after they retire?

THAT is what gets us in financial trouble.

It ALMOST paid for their benefits. Read the whole story. But only in the PUBIC sector do fixed costs not at all factor into the equation. Let me help those challenged by accounting and business book keeping 101 (apparently the Pravda editors, DV and a most members of the democrap party) while you sip your chai. I will make it simple.

When you open a business you have to buy things. Things like an area to do your work in (in a bodyshop for instance it is a garage.) Also you then buy things like $40,000 paint booths which suck the fumes out and filter them in order to comply with DEC regulations and other codes. Then you actually have to use a great deal of electricity because things like grinders, cut-off wheels, sanders, sand blasters (other things) run on air from a very large and electricity eating air compressor (another thing to buy.) Then you materials like sand paper, sand for aforementioned sandblaster, various supplies and solvents  which also need a disposal place which is another "thing" you have to buy. Then lastly you have to buy primer and paint which is very expensive and is another "thing" that I did not see mentioned.

Some of things are called "fixed costs which are there no matter howmuch work you have and some are variable costs which fluctuate. The cost of the shop space, paint booth and tools are initial cost which have to be amortized over the life of the assets and that has to be added to the fixed cost. The electric bill is a fixed cost in general but fluctuates as work goes up or down. Nonetheless these costs are very high to start a place like this. None of these were accounted for and the calculation of the numbers in the papers said that the "benefits" of the workers were not included in the budget. Well neither were the various other costs and no one at the DG seemed able or willing to question the man in charge of the department to find out about how much those costs were and how much this operation actually lost. And it lost a great deal, I assure you- because the fixed costs plus the worker benefits are not being accounted for. They are pulling numbers out of the ledger and saying "LOOK! WE DID GREAT!" This would make ENRON look honest...However it goes back to what I posted earlier.

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GOVERNMENT HAS TO GET BIGGER, IT CAN NEVER GET SMALLER. IT CAN NEVER DO WITH ANY LESS THAN IT HAS EVEN THOUGH IT EXPECTS YOU TO. IT HAS  TO DO MORE, HIRE MORE, GROW MORE, COST MORE AND TAKE ON NEW ROLES ALL THE TIME. IT NEEDS TO MAKE MORE OF THE DECISIONS, TAKE MORE OF YOUR ECONOMIC FREEDOM, LIMIT YOUR SPEECH, LIMIT YOUR ACTIONS, TAX MORE OF YOUR INCOME AND IF YOU QUESTION GOVERNMENT OR ITS WORKERS AND MILLIONS OF BUREAUCRATS, YOU ARE OBVIOUSLY AGAINST THE CHILDREN, THE FRAIL ELDERLY, HOMEOWNERS, THE DISABLED, MINORITIES, TEENS, WORKING MOTHERS, WOMEN, AT-RISK BOYS, TEEN GIRLS, IMMIGRANTS, THE DISADVANTAGED, HEALTH CARE, REPRODUCTIVE HEALTH, WOMEN'S HEALTH, WORKING FAMILIES, VETERANS, THE TROOPS, FIRST RESPONDERS, GAYS, STRAIGHTS, TRANSGENDERED, THE AUTISTIC, THE ARTS, AND WORKERS!


DUH. GET WITH IT.

If you challeng the "money making" body shop the city has, you would now also be against the "taxpayers" as well based on the false (lie) premise that the operation is not losing money hand over fist!

I just heard Mark Davis (filling in for Rush Limbaugh) say "What is I formed a religion that said Jesus hangs out in some bodyshop in Schenectady? Would that be a recognized religion of I had five followers who believed it?" He must of read there were five people who think it is the "second coming of Jesus" now that the body shop is opened in Schenectady!  

those would be those 'jobs created'????.....NOT PART OF THE TAX CAP....show me the COLA...show me the CAFR......

Who paid for the building and the equipment? How much money did that cost? What is the return on THAT investment?

Bottom line is.......if it was lucrative and a money maker, there would be private interests knocking down the door. Or was there??

Also....these employees will be on the books long after they retire.....with benefits for life at the cost to the taxpayers!!!

As with the manipulation of the use of % in figuring any support to an argument (if it's reported 75% of people there voted Yes on an issue,and there were only 4 people there,thereby only 3 voted in the affirmative) that always sounds better, 75% rather than 3 of 4, such is the advantage of always UNDERESTIMATING your profit in a venture.   Your covered either way.  In the event you don't hit the mark your out is least we were close and did'nt expect much.   However in this case setting the bar that low for profit/gross income actually makes the business party that much more seem like a financial whiz.   Thats the key set the bar low and you can't lose.   Done all the time to maximize PR.   When all else fails you can always generalize and blame the soft economy.    One question does remain:  When all the city vehicles are rust prevenative treated, and if the outside business for this need were to dry up what then?   I assume that these treatments last a few years, so once they are all done what is to become of these employees function?   Lateral transfer or?

Quoted from Mr. Majestyk

As with the manipulation of the use of % in figuring any support to an argument (if it's reported 75% of people there voted Yes on an issue,and there were only 4 people there,thereby only 3 voted in the affirmative) that always sounds better, 75% rather than 3 of 4, such is the advantage of always UNDERESTIMATING your profit in a venture.   Your covered either way.  In the event you don't hit the mark your out is least we were close and did'nt expect much.   However in this case setting the bar that low for profit/gross income actually makes the business party that much more seem like a financial whiz.   Thats the key set the bar low and you can't lose.   Done all the time to maximize PR.   When all else fails you can always generalize and blame the soft economy.    One question does remain:  When all the city vehicles are rust prevenative treated, and if the outside business for this need were to dry up what then?   I assume that these treatments last a few years, so once they are all done what is to become of these employees function?   Lateral transfer or?

sittin' on the dole and volunteering like McCarthy said.....maybe they could take a headcount of the pitbulls and their loving owners......hahahahahahahaha

or maybe they could go around collecting spent shells, they are recyclable