Heh — Seems the government has been subsidizing parking fees for its workers at the Labor Department. How much? About $200 or so a month. The average parking in the area is $225, Labor Department Employees pay $35. Are they hot or what?
I have no problem with employers subsidizing parking. Its done all the time. The irony is that the Feds are on one hand trying to get people to car pool and take public transportation and on the other are subsidizing their parking to the tune of $2400 a year. I would say it makes no sense but then mentioning the Government and ‘sense’ in the same sentence is an oxymoron.
Of course the union is threatening to picket, strike, and sue. The Labor Department is holding firm. Here’s what I think is happening. The Labor Department is actually paying someone the $200 or so a month for the parking. If there are 750 parkers, that mounts to a million eight every year out of the department’s pocket.
I also wonder if the IRS knows about this subsidy and if the employees are paying taxes on the addition $2400 a year they get in parking cost reduction.
Unions are demanding a subsidy others don’t get, the government is looking for ways to reduce expenses, the IRS isn’t following its own rules, one part of the government has a policy that flies in the face of another arm of the government…Just another day in DC.
JVH
