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2008 budget talk is beginning.

The item I listed below is from the 2007 Toledo budget. I noticed it back in the summer. It's insignificant, I guess, but I wondered why in the treasury section above, the City is suppose to receive $700 in the phrenologist account.

>> Toledo Budget 2007:Revenues:General Fund:Treasury

1420-treasury

6627-phrenologist

700

From the Wikipedia Phrenology article :

Phrenology is a theory which claims to be able to determine character, personality traits and criminality on the basis of the shape of the head (i.e., by reading "bumps" and "fissures"). Developed by German physician Franz Joseph Gall around 1800, the discipline was very popular in the 19th century.

Phrenology is based on the concept that the brain is the organ of the mind, and that certain brain areas have localized, specific functions or modules. In other words, phrenologists believed that the mind has a set of different mental faculties, with each particular faculty represented in a different portion (or organ) of the brain. These areas were said to be proportional to a given individual's propensities and the importance of a given mental faculty, as well as the overall conformation of the cranial bone to reflect differences among individuals.

Apparently, if you hang a shingle, claiming to be a phrenologist, you have to pay the city a fee. Toledo collects more money in the phrenologist account than in the miniature golf account.

posted by jr on Nov 14, 2007 at 02:26:49 pm     #

This is interesting. However, you need a whole picture comparing this against the expenses. The Clerk of Court collects certified mail costs, but also pays for certified mail costs ... for instance.

However, to do so would require that the city be able to generate a current list of expenses, and I don't think they can do that with any sort of accuracy on a timely basis.

posted by MaggieThurber on Nov 14, 2007 at 04:16:11 pm     #

"... you need a whole picture comparing this against the expenses."

What do you mean? The Toledo Budget 2007 page also contains links to the expenditure parts of the budget. Here's the link for the section
Expenditures >> General Fund >> Clerk of Municipal Court.

Certified mail is mentioned on the Revenues page above, but it's not listed on the expenditures page. The postage expense is listed.

Karen Shanahan's Excel version of the 2007 budget made it easy to convert the budget into HTML display by using the Textile formatting language built into Toledo Talk.

Toledo Budget 2007 >> Payroll >> General Fund >> Mayor's Office

organization	job title	f.t.e.'s	regular wages
0200-office of the mayor	administrative assistant to the mayor	2	112050
0200-office of the mayor	assistant chief operating officer	1.8	167854.03
0200-office of the mayor	chief of staff	1	93905.45
0200-office of the mayor	manager-administrative services	1	52222.25
0200-office of the mayor	mayor	1	137173.1
0200-office of the mayor	mayor's assistant 1	1	27000
0200-office of the mayor	mayor's assistant 2	3	91851.14
0200-office of the mayor	mayor's executive assistant	1	53050
0200-office of the mayor	public information coordinator
0200-office of the mayor	secretary 3	1.05	45479.3

I just noticed that Karen no longer has the Excel version of the budget on her blog.

posted by jr on Nov 14, 2007 at 05:17:49 pm     #

sorry jr...missed that portion.

The vast majority of the postage budget for the Clerk is the certified mail costs...

posted by MaggieThurber on Nov 14, 2007 at 07:22:50 pm     #

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