The News Gets No Better

Mayor Dan Mylott used his weekly press conference yesterday to push the City Council to approve his spending plan for the police union raises.

Yes, I'm tired of writing about this, but it's not going away, and there are a lot of secondary issues that go with it.

Today, let's talk about what this means in the big picture.

First, we talking $300,000 here. For a city with a $95 million budget, it's peanuts. But the city is so strapped for cash, it has become a major hurdle. It's a glaring spotlight on the poor finances of the city, and how there is little wiggle room for maneuvering.

And the problem isn't going away. According the Telegram this morning, Mylott said the Fire Department raises will get some cake from free cash. Some other union contracts will be funded with next year's budget. Hmmmmm.

The council does have a decision to make this week: Does it go through the next seven months without a safety net, or does it find another avenue to fund the raises? It's cuts, free cash, or no raises (and if you want to discuss an override, go back to the early days of SaveFitchburg and the "we're not rewarding mismanagement with more of our tax dollars"). It's not, really, a palatable decision, but it's what the city is stuck with.

What happens later in the year when additional costs pile up? What if it's a cold winter and energy costs are higher than budgeted? What if there's a ton of snow? What if a roof collapses on a city building? What if, what if, what if. The city's "what if" cushion was $330,000 before Mylott's proposal. Will a $130,000 cushion get the city through the year? Who knows, but chances are the city and the council be facing tougher choices than this later on in the year.

UPDATE (11:10 a.m.): In today's Sentinel, Mylott says he didn't fund the raises in the budget because, "Last February, I had no idea what the deal was going to be." Councilor Stephan Hay responds by saying, "It's poor management if you can't anticipate approximately what an increase is going to cost."

Hay is such a nice boy. We'd say, how can the mayor, the city's negotiator, not have a plan on how much he was willing to give the police union? He really didn't know in February how much the city was willing to give for a raise? He didn't have a limit? He didn't have a ballpark? He didn't think, maybe tuck a few bones away for this, because it will cost us something?

Every so often, something comes up that we mentally tuck away as "something we'll want answers for come election time." This most certainly fits the bill. Color us incredulous on this one.