L.A. Stimulus: $10 Million to Create One Job

When President Obama and Congress passed a multi-billion dollar jobs creation bill it was widely reported that tens of thousands of jobs would be saved or created as a result. Contrary opinions from opponents of the bill argued that only the free market, not government, is capable of creating sustainable, meaningful labor and that the billions spent would end up being more wasteful spending.

According to Los Angeles City Controller Wendy Greuel, the contrarians may have been right.

In a recent audit and follow-up press release, the city controller’s office says that of the $111 million in stimulus funds the city has already received of the $594 originally awarded, the city has created or retained a total 54.46 jobs.

The LA Department of Public Works, which was given the majority of the funds totalling some $71 million, was projected to save or create 238 jobs. The finally tally? According to the audit, 37.7 jobs were saved and just 7.76 jobs were created – costing U.S. taxpayers nearly $10 million for each new job.

In a statement to the press, Greuel said that with a 12% unemployment rate in the city, administrators need to do a better job of cutting through the red tape. “While it doesn’t appear that any of the ARRA funds were misspent, the City needs to do a better job expediting the process and creating jobs. We’re going to continue to audit how these funds are spent, to ensure that they are expended quickly and correctly. I’m pleased that since our auditors completed their field work, the Departments have begun to implement the changes we identified to help get this money out the door faster,” said Greuel.