经济学人241:芝加哥财政预算陷入水深火热之中

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　　芝加哥财政预算

　　Reality bites

　　陷入水深火热之中

　　How to slash¹ a deficit² without raising taxes

　　如何大幅削减赤字，又不提高税收

　　Promises to keep

　　恪守承诺

　　AT ABOUT 8.30am on Saturday October 15th, close to the city’s former meatpacking district, one of Chicago’s ancient water mains burst. As the road buckled³ and water gushed⁴ down alleyways, it was a timely reminder⁵ that the modern city is built on crumbling⁶, century-old infrastructure⁷. Fixing the problem is not easy, as the city is awash in debt as well as water.

　　10月15日周六上午8:30左右，位于芝加哥前肉类加工厂附近一个老化的自来水总管道破裂，“水漫金山”。这适时地提醒了人们，这座现代化城市下已建成百年之久的基础设施如今正日渐破损。要解决这一问题并不容易，因为眼下芝加哥被债务淹没，就像被泡在这次大水中一样。

　　Only three days earlier the city’s energetic new mayor, Rahm Emanuel, had presented his first budget. The city had looked set to produce a $640m deficit on its operating budget of $3 billion. Worse still, for a decade Chicago has had significant and growing shortfalls which have only been plugged using creative, but one-off, fixes dreamed up by the previous mayor. These include, for example, leasing all its metered street parking for 75 years—something that still annoys the locals.

　　就在3天前，精力充沛的芝加哥新任市长拉姆?伊曼纽尔递交了他的首轮财政预算计划。在这份30亿美元的经营预算中，似乎肯定会产生6.4亿美元的赤字。更糟糕的是，10年来芝加哥财政赤字巨大，并且一直不断增长，上任市长曾想出一些颇具创意却治标不治本的政策填补过这一空缺，将设有收费表的路边泊车位出租长达75年之久就是一例，此补救措施直到现在都令当地居民甚为恼火。

　　Mr Emanuel had promised a lot. He said he would balance the budget and invest in the city’s infrastructure, all without raising property taxes or using one-off revenues. On paper he has, indeed, balanced the budget. About $420m has come through a mixture of cuts, reorganisation and efficiency gains. The rest has been found by raising new revenue, whether through new or increased fees, fines, charges or (whisper it) taxes. For example, the budget proposes a new $2-a-day “congestion premium” for drivers who park in downtown garages. And visitors to next year’s NATO and G8 summits will each be adding $1.78 a night to city coffers, thanks to a new hotel tax.

　　伊曼纽尔作了很多承诺。他表示会平衡预算，投资城市基础设施建设，但他不会提高财产税，也不会征收一次性税收。的确，理论上他平衡了预算。通过削减开支、重组体制和提高效率，他可以节省4.2亿美元。而通过设立新的罚款、各种费用、（ 嘘！）还有税收，或是在原有基础上对这些进行提高，所获得的收益可以填补剩余部分。举例来说，预算计划上提议要向将车停在市中心车库的司机新征收每日2美元的“拥堵附加费”；多亏了新设立的酒店税，明年参观北大西洋公约组织和8国峰会的每位游客每日要多付1.78美元，所得款项将充入城市财政。

　　Some of Mr Emanuel’s plans are politically bold. Chicago is to become the first large city in America to merge⁸ police and fire services in a co-ordinated “public safety” headquarters, and some unneeded facilities are to be trimmed. Savings⁹ of $82m are sought, and the plans may rationalise how the city tackles terrorism, bomb threats and arson¹⁰.

　　伊曼纽尔的某些预算计划在政治上相当大胆。芝加哥将成为全美将警察与消防服务融合为一个联合“公安”总部的第一个大城市。某些多余的机构也面临解散。如此可节省8200万美元。此外，预算计划还会对如何应对恐怖主义、炸弹威胁以及纵火问题作出合理的说明。

　　The budget still has to be approved by the city council, but the scale of Chicago’s debt gives little room for manoeuvre¹¹. Laurence Msall, president of the Civic¹² Federation¹³, an independent watchdog, explains that the city can no longer kick the can down the road as the can is now a “55-gallon drum”. He says the new budget is a positive development, though the mayor has not yet tackled a looming¹⁴ pensions crisis. The three main ratings agencies have also reacted favourably¹⁵.

　　该预算计划还须得到市议会的同意，但即使通过，在芝加哥负债累累的情况下，其能够施展的空间也是微乎其微。公民联合会（一家独立的监察机构）主席劳伦斯?米赛尔解释说，星星之火业已燎原，芝加哥再不能对这个问题视而不见了。他表示，纵使市长尚未着手处理正在逼近的养老金危机，但新一轮的预算计划仍是件好事。三大主要评级机构对此也作出了积极的反应。

　　Although the agony has been spread thin, the most painful new proposal is a large hike in water rates. The need, however, could not be plainer. Despite the city’s towering skyscrapers¹⁶ and ultra-modern Millennium¹⁷ Park, underground the story is grimmer. Chicago has 900 miles of ancient water pipes that need replacing and 750 miles of sewers¹⁸ that need improving. And four of its water-pumping stations still run on steam power.

　　预算缩减总量虽高 ，但分摊下来并不会令人太过苦恼，不过棘手的是关于大幅提高水费的新提案。然而，其必要性已再清楚不过/ 箭在弦上，不得不发。尽管芝加哥摩天大楼鳞次栉比，又有着超现代的千禧公园，可地下设施却惨不忍睹。该城需要更新的老化水管长达900英里，还有750英里的下水管道需要升级，另外还有4个泵水站仍在使用蒸汽动力。

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