Let the Games Begin

The budget process lurches out of neutral tonight, when the City Council and the mayor get together and start hashing all this out.

How serious the Council was about rejecting Mayor Dan Mylott's budget wholesale can be debated at this point. But one thing is clear: The Council did not like the budget, and was ready to make sure Mylott got the message that changes need to be made.

The debate this turns to where those changes are. Councilors have some ideas about what they'd like to see, but there appears to be no consensus on exactly where cuts are.

One thing that's very likely: A reduction or outright rejection of the proposal for new police vehicles. Three councilors have said it's an area they want to take a long look at, particularly after 10 new vehicles were purchased this year. Equally likely: The approval of new police officers.

One of the great debates of these budget sessions is likely to be how to best use the city's money. There is a growing desire to throw some money into a stabilization fund -- Councilor Stephan Hay thinks $200,000 to $300,000 is appropriate, but there are also some service questions outstanding. Councilor Stephen DiNatale, for example, wants to hear more about education funding and how the city's portion may have been decreased this year.

So, one of the questions going into this week is, How does the Council go about knocking money out of the budget to make room for stabilization funding or other measures? Does is try to make a big splash in one area, like the police vehicles, or does it just chip away here and there, building a pile of cash?

One last, important thing: This year's budget process is directly tied to last year's budget process, when councilors approved a budget from Mylott that was unbalanced. Veteran councilors say they learned last year they need to take a tougher stand when they don't like the budget. Councilor David Clark, DiNatale, and Hay all said last year's budget -- and feedback they've gotten since then -- directly led to changes in how they handle this year's process.

"I thought we made a mistake, and last year we should have sent it back," Hay said. "I would never accept an unbalanced budget again. This year it's not unbalanced, but I still had that fundamental disagreement about not spending every dollar that you get."

DiNatale and other councilors said they have had discussions with the mayor over the last few weeks, and feel there is solid ground to discuss the budget. DiNatale noted that the mayor wasn't evasive in their conversation, but that Mylott wasn't 100 percent clear in his answers. DiNatale hopes for some more polished information during the rest of the process.

So, it's off to the races tonight. It will be interesting to see what areas the Council and the mayor agree are expendible. It appears obvious that cuts are coming. Still to be decided are where the cuts will come from, and where the money will go.