. . . We cannot make up the difference between revenue losses and potential expenditures by raising our tax levy or implementing new taxes and fees. Though we may blunt some of the losses through new or increased revenue streams, we will probably have to cut some aspects of our government. . . .
Mr. Healy and City Council
Re: Budget Preparation Suggestions
Dear Mr. Healy and fellow City Councilors:
As we enter the budget season, I'd like to share my thoughts on our upcoming budget priorities.
1. We cannot make up the difference between revenue losses and potential expenditures by raising our tax levy or implementing new taxes and fees. Though we may blunt some of the losses through new or increased revenue streams, we will probably have to cut some aspects of our government. I suggest that we:
a. Cut Council Aides. For years the Council existed without these assistants and, in a time when we will probably be experiencing a variety of service shortfalls, it is especially difficult to justify this expenditure.
b. Cut Council and Mayoral travel and entertainment expenses by 50%. This may be small dollars, but if we're asking other citizens to take a cut in the services they enjoy from the City and related agencies, we must show that we're willing to do the same.
c. I propose a 10% cut in Councilor pay. Everyone is going to have to make do with less services, Councilors should be clear about sharing (and attempting to mitigate) that pain.
d. We need to revamp how we utilize police details and how those details work. For many people, CPD officers are the most visible face of government and as services shrink and taxes go up, it will be especially embittering to see details of dubious value and, even worse, often carried out in an inattentive manner. We may need to talk about different ways of paying our officers, but the damage to public confidence in our ability to spend money wisely is considerable when they see many of these details.
e. I suggest we stop our traffic calming construction efforts. Stop signs are one thing, as is reconfiguring lights, but spending tens of thousands of dollars on bumpouts, raised intersections, chicanes and other infrastructure development of such dubious effectiveness is, I think, a waste of money that we especially cannot afford now.
2. If we're looking at new ways to expand revenue streams, I would like to look at increasing the parking sticker cost as well as local option taxes and so forth. The logic of avoiding charging car owners more for this City valuable service while increasing the burden on property owners to make up holes in our revenue escapes me.
3. After the last budget cycle, someone raised the interesting point that our unrestricted use of free cash to minimize the property tax increase especially benefited the large property holders such as MIT. Because we cannot target tax relief to specific owners, it seems, to me, that it would be impossible to change this formula. I'd like us to consider not using free cash to drive down ALL property tax payments but rather setting up a system to use free cash, or other City funds, to provide targeted relief in terms of grants or additional services. Such a system may be too bulky to build or to implement, but it could allow the City to ensure that our wealthiest members do not get the massive tax breaks they got last year while people and businesses of lesser wealth, many of whom are in dire fiscal situations, get relatively minor relief.
I would be glad to talk with any of you in private or at Council hearings about these listed thoughts or any other relevant matter.