More Cuts Coming?

The City Council finance subcommittee threw back to Mayor Dan Mylott his plans to fund raises for police officers last night, perhaps setting the stage for more cuts to the city budget.

Councilors say they support raises for officer -- anything else would be political suicide -- but they don't support Mylott's plan to take a chunk of the raise money from free cash. The move would take more than half of the city's $330,000 in free cash, leaving little in the old savings account is something else were to happen.

The move is interesting in that a police union raise is usually a slam-dunk. For the council's fiscal concerns to override such a fundamental political premise is notable. It also should raise the red flag to the mayor that upcoming union contracts that are due soon won't be a walk in the park, either.

Here's a fundamental question: Mylott had to know when he put his budget together last spring just what the city could afford for raises. So one of two things likely happened: He didn't put enough money into the budget to cover the raises, or he gave a bigger raise than he planned on. Will that be the case for fire and DPW contracts? Or are those departments better funded for raises?

Finally, was Mylott's union raise policy "we'll figure it out later?" That almost seems to be the case here, as the city scrambles to find a small pile of dough for the cops. If the police union soaks up much of the available free cash, where do the small piles come from for other unions? The council is, in some respects, asking that question now -- a foreward-looking premise that (if it is the case) the council should be acknowledged for.

So, if Mylott can't raid free cash for the union raises, where does the money come from? Perhaps cuts from other departments. There are few other options at this point.

As has become his default argument, Mylott argues that again, the council isn't offering any solutions. The council has played a valuable, valuable role in recent weeks in identifying the chief problems in the city. Also, Mylott made it clear last spring that the budget is his document and he controls the budget matters in the city. There's no denying there's a problem, and the mayor is in the chief position of finding the solutions. Happy hunting.