Budget Chaos

After two days of going through the city budget, City Councilors reached their limit on the third and Wednesday night threw it back to Mayor Dan Mylott for an overhaul. Nine of the 10 councilors voted to send it back.

If not unprecedented, this is a highly unusual move by the council. No matter how you slice it, it also appears to be a sign of great frustration from the council to the mayor. Councilors in general have questions about the use of free cash and overlay money in the budget. Dean Tran in particular wants money set aside to lower property taxes.

Whatever the case, at least 10 people in Fitchburg -- and probably the most important 10 -- think this budget is somewhere between bad and a joke. We still want an explanation on the $100,000 cut in the city's portion of school funding.

It's also worth noting that Mylott skipped Wednesday's budget hearing. The story didn't say why, but it goes without saying Mylott should be at these meetings. It is his budget after all.

UPDATE: Here's a story from today's Sentinel that has a good rundown of the Council's concerns. Two notes: Councilors are pretty much saying "enough is enough" to Mylott. Mylott says he's unsure what the next step is. With great restraint, we'll leave it at that.