Spirit-filled city council approves mayor's budget
City council approved Mayor White's proposed budget yesterday and Matt Stiles provides some details:
The council, with two dissenting votes, approved the general fund — the tax- and fee-supported portion that covers city departments' operating costs — as part of a $3.2 billion overall budget that also includes enterprise funds such as those dedicated to aviation, water and sewer, and convention facilities.
About 64 percent of all nondebt costs in the general fund will go to public safety, which increased about $48 million, or 5.8 percent, in a budget that doesn't require large cuts or spending increases in most departments.
Part of the added public safety costs comes from $19 million set aside in the event that the city's firefighters approve a collective-bargaining deal in the coming weeks.
[snip]
"This is a strong mayor form of government. The mayor is going to always do what the mayor wants to do. There's very little that a council can do unless they are all united against the mayor," said Councilman Mark Goldberg.
Among several other amendments passed by the council was an $878,000 cap on city spending for the Safe Clear mandatory freeway towing program. That figure, which doesn't affect additional contributions to the program from the Metropolitan Transit Authority and tow-truck operators, was the fiscal 2006 Safe Clear expenditure estimated last week by Controller Annise Parker.
The two council members who voted against the budget, Addie Wiseman and Shelley Sekula-Gibbs, criticized the decision to issue $71 million in pension revenue bonds to help cover payments to pensions instead of using tax revenue.
"We're relying on $71 million in pension bonds, passing the burden on to future councils," Wiseman said.
The story also included this amusing quote:
"City Hall is operating in a businesslike fashion," White said. "There's a good spirit around the council table that we're working toward some common goals of creating a good quality of life in our neighborhoods, greater mobility and better value for the taxpayer dollar."
Aha. We can look to Councilman Mark Goldberg for the definition of "good spirit":
"This is a strong mayor form of government. The mayor is going to always do what the mayor wants to do. There's very little that a council can do unless they are all united against the mayor," said Councilman Mark Goldberg.
Posted by Anne Linehan @ 06/23/05 11:04 AM | Print | Comments (1)
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