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Ryan Eashoo
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Flint Council dips into savings to set budget
FLINTTHE FLINT JOURNAL FIRST EDITIONTuesday, June 05, 2007By Marjory Raymermraymer@flintjournal.com • 810.766.6325
QUICK TAKE
Flint's budget
In a 5-4 vote, the Flint City Council passed a budget Monday for next year with $2 million more in general fund expenditures than proposed by Mayor Don Williamson. Here's a breakdown of the vote:
For: Jackie Poplar, Carolyn Sims, Sheldon Neeley, Jim Ananich and Scott Kincaid.
Against: Darryl Buchanan, Kerry Nelson, Sandy Hill and Ehren Gonzales.
What's next: The mayor has one week to review and veto the budget, if he so chooses. It would take two-thirds of the City Council - six votes - to override his veto.
FLINT - Flint will hire 25 more police officers and fund a series of other special projects under the budget passed by the City Council that several called excessive.
At the same time, the budget strips Mayor Don Williamson of at least one pet project, staff and power.
The budget passed by the City Council on Monday drains the city's fund balance, or rainy day fund, and increases the general fund budget $2.1 million to $74.3 million.
"Why give away the financial safety net? Because we want to spend all the money?" Council President Darryl Buchanan said. "I will not break our city."
The budget passed Monday on a 5-4 vote that followed typical allegiances for and against the mayor.
Budget Director Michael A. Townsend said he had not yet been able to review the Council's budget and could not comment on it.
Williamson has one week to veto the budget, which goes into effect July 1. It would take two-thirds of the council - six votes - to override a veto.
Mayoral aide Joe Conroy said Williamson will begin reviewing council's budget today and is undecided on whether to veto it.
"The mayor is going to look at what his priorities were and see how that fits with what's passed," Conroy said. "He has a week to do that and he'll make that decision with due diligence and consultation with the department heads as well as the public."
Some council members were pleased with what they came up with.
"Everything that is in this budget is what council members wanted - what all nine council members wanted," said Councilman Jim Ananich, chairman of the Finance Committee.
Adding 25 police officers will cost the city about $1.2 million, Ananich said. Public safety was a priority, he said, and noted the budget includes the addition of two 911 dispatchers and a firefighter recruit school to brace the city for a large number of expected retirements.
Other additions to the budget made by City Council include:
$337,000 for weed and trash abatement.
$250,000 for neighborhood cleanups.
$450,000 for renovations to community centers, including creation of a 4th Ward community center and an addition for Berston Fieldhouse.
$500,000 for a sidewalk program with the city and homeowners each sharing half the cost.
$270,000 for demolition of abandoned structures.
$800,000 for upgrades to the city's 911 system to an 800-megahertz emergency radio system.
"A lot of these amendments are requests from department heads that the administration left out," said council member Scott Kincaid. He said the budget includes payment for debts forgotten by administrators. "I think it is a very responsible and reasonable budget."
City Council members also took clear aim at Williamson in their overhaul of the $330-million budget.
They cut five of 10 staffers that council members considered mayoral aides, eliminated the Citizens Service Bureau in the police department and put new restrictions on how Williamson spends money.
The budget is specific, setting dollar amounts for specific line items, so Williamson would have little flexibility in spending. In previous years, the city operated under a more general activity budget, which allowed Williamson to shift dollars without council approval.
At the end of last fiscal year, the fund balance was $8.9 million. It is expected to drop to about $5.2 million after this year after money is used from it to balance the budget.
Councilwoman Sandy Hill, who opposed the budget and felt she did not get to offer enough input in the process, said the fund balance could drop as low as $240,000 with the council's budget.
The budget includes about $1.5 million in special projects such as the sidewalk program and community center renovations. That money is still technically a part of the fund balance, Ananich said, because if the money isn't spent on those projects, it is funneled back into the fund balance.
Councilman Ehren Gonzales also said with decreasing state funding and looming expenses - such as the still-unsettled contract with firefighters - the city should be more restrictive in how it spends money.
"We don't have enough money to sustain these expenditures," Gonzales said.
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Flint Michigan Resident, Tax Payer, Flint Nutt - Local REALTOR - Activist. www.FlintTown.com |
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Tue Jun 05, 2007 10:28 pm |
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00SL2
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"'Everything that is in this budget is what council members wanted - what all nine council members wanted,' said Councilman Jim Ananich, chairman of the Finance Committee."
If it only passed on a 5-4 vote, obviously 4 members didn't agree. I wish the butting heads would quit playing politics with my tax money and use some wisdom and foresight in planning for the future without breaking the budget. |
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Fri Jun 08, 2007 8:30 pm |
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Ryan Eashoo
F L I N T O I D
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Your right! So drain the fund to pay for officers this year, lets not worry that more and more businesses and residents are leaving. Lets not worry about that next year we will have less income. Then next year we can lay everyone off again!! See this is why Mayor Williamson knows best!
quote:
00SL2 schreef:
"'Everything that is in this budget is what council members wanted - what all nine council members wanted,' said Councilman Jim Ananich, chairman of the Finance Committee."
If it only passed on a 5-4 vote, obviously 4 members didn't agree. I wish the butting heads would quit playing politics with my tax money and use some wisdom and foresight in planning for the future without breaking the budget.
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Flint Michigan Resident, Tax Payer, Flint Nutt - Local REALTOR - Activist. www.FlintTown.com |
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Fri Jun 08, 2007 8:49 pm |
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Bossman
F L I N T O I D
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| The mayor knows nothing. The City of Flint is self insured and the lawsuits continue to come in. When he is finished the law suit pay outs will be in the double digit millions. Because he knows best. |
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Tue Jun 12, 2007 1:32 pm |
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Richard
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At this rate the state will send Kurtz back in to straighten Flint out. It's a shame the city cannot operate on the funds it has and make cuts where it has to. I know, it is not easy and everyone has an opinion but, we all know if you only have so much money coming in, only so much money can go out. That is just the way it is!
Michigan's governor is doing the same thing. If we operated like this at the hotel or the funeral home, or even with our personal finances, we would be out of business.
Perhaps the black community should hold a 100,000 man walk and take Flint back do the crime rate drops and Flint would not need so many Police. Blacks seem to ban together for everything else so why not for this? |
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Wed Jun 13, 2007 9:18 am |
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