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So what other piles of cash is the Convention Center Authority just sitting on?

OK, so now we know the authority had $1 million just sort of sitting there, at least until Patrick and Menino came up with the plan to use it for controlling those notably rowdy Tall Ships fans.

Mike Mennonno notes that the five-day use of the slush pile is twice what it would cost to continue operating the Boston Police Department's mounted unit for an entire year:

... The impact of axing the mounted units may not be immediately felt, just as their presence is often taken for granted. But the loss to the community will be felt in years to come. They are a part of the fabric of the Fenway. That's how you destroy a community: you start pulling at threads here and there until the whole thing unravels.

The state is very kindly subsidizing the private sector in the case of the Tall Ships, when the private sector should be being encouraged to fund the special needs of the festival. ...

Meanwhile public sector services that actually need state funds to survive are axed.

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You can hide a lot of money in the Boston budget by moving it around - the operating budget gets a lot of scrutiny - but nobody looks at things like external funds (the resting place of all the stimulus money - about $50 million). People will look at the budget and say - oh we are just spending the same as last year - not realizing that tens of millions of dollars in the external funds are actually being used to supplement the operating fund. Then there's the BRA, their stepchild EDIC, the BHA and the Mass Convention Authority and maybe a few others.

A city councilor once said to me - We ask for $100k for a playground and get told there's no money in the budget. Some project needs a white knight a week later and the mayor hands them a check for $1 million - where does this money come from?

Seek and ye shall find councilor!

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The Convention Center Authority also kicked in $65 million this year to fund the state's budget. Makes you wonder what else is out there.

Printing a balance sheet in their annual report would be a start.

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As a Zipcar member, I have to pay a $10/year fee that car renters in the state pay per rental even though the idea was to tax *tourists* to pay for the convention center.

So, it seems that they've got quite a bit of that money floating around somewhere and can dole it out when necessary to the state for various reasons. So, if you know a Zipcar member, thank them for paying this stupid "fee". They just afforded you the Tall Ships this year.

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