It’s not bad for government work.

A federally funded jobs program that will be pay participants $51.71 an hour to clean up debris from a creek bed in Poughkeepsie has drawn fire from conservatives who say it’s a textbook example of government profligacy.

They also say it illustrates how New York’s prevailing wage law, which requires employers to pay union wages on public works projects, drives up the cost to taxpayers and limits the number of people who can be employed on a given job.

Supporters point out that the temporary program is aimed at people who have been out of work for more than 27 weeks, and limits their earnings to $12,000.

Either way, the task of clearing debris from Poughkeepsie’s Fallkill Creek is just one of several such projects around the state, thanks to a $16 million federal grant for cleaning up wreckage from Tropical Storm Irene.

The program was first noted on a website called Mid Hudson News and then picked up by NY Torch, a website about state issues maintained by the fiscally conservative Empire Center.

The program uses federal Department of Labor funds, which are passed through the state Labor Department. The work appears to be mostly unskilled labor, including clearing out brush and rocks that have clogged the streambed, although there may also be some tree cutting involved as well as repairs to a wall that channels the stream.

The federal grant forces adherence to the state’s prevailing wage law, state Labor Department officials said.

Under that statute, the hourly pay rate for a unionized laborer in the Poughkeepsie area is $30.71.

Additionally, the pay would include an additional $21 per hour for fringe benefits including health care insurance, a retirement plan and union dues.

Since workers in this program aren’t actually on a union job, the fringe money is simply included in their paycheck. The total: $51.71.

“This is where common sense gets lost,” Assembly Republican Minority Leader Brian Kolb said when told of the program…..

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