THE RIVER CITY NEWS MORE COVINGTON NEWS THAN ANY OTHER SOURCE
|
|
by Michael Monks
|
The speech that established him as Covington's new leader in January will have an encore presentation in two weeks, Mayor Chuck Scheper announced at Tuesday night's City Commission meeting. Returning to the Madison Event Center and the same stage he delivered his first and only State of the City address and introduced his ambitious 10-point plan to change the course Covington was on, Scheper will update the citizens on the progress he has made and the steps to be taken to accomplish the rest. The June 26 speech will replace the scheduled city commission meeting. Two days later the commission will vote on the 2012-2013 budget, the topic that dominated its business Tuesday night.
|
In an unusual move, Scheper left his seat at the dais and took to the podium at City Hall's commission chambers to present part of the goals of next year's budget, one that demands large cuts from each department including a million dollars from police and fire. "We're running out of runway," Scheper said, pointing to slide after slide on the projector screen that demonstrated how the City had balanced budgets for years by ignoring infrastructure needs and other issues. There are now thirty million dollars in needed infrastructure, the mayor said.
|
He compared Covington's spending and budgeting habits to those of surrounding cities like Louisville, Indianapolis, and Cincinnati (Covington's payroll tax is higher, it pays more per capita for public safety, and spends far less on other important needs) before returning to his now familiar mantra that C+V=G: courage plus vision equals growth and then to his traditional seat at the dais.
He compared Covington's spending and budgeting habits to those of surrounding cities like Louisville, Indianapolis, and Cincinnati (Covington's payroll tax is higher, it pays more per capita for public safety, and spends far less on other important needs) before returning to his now familiar mantra that C+V=G: courage plus vision equals growth and then to his traditional seat at the dais.
|
What followed was a display of uncertainty about how the cuts to the budget would occur, uncertainty that even reached the usually quiet department heads.
|
"The numbers started at a million, they've been as low as five-hundred thousand, they've been six-fifty, eight hundred, and I don't know where we're going to find that money," said a visibly frustrated Fire Chief Chuck Norris. "My hole now is nine-hundred forty-one thousand. I didn't know where I was going to get five hundred, I don't know where I'm going to get nine hundred!"
|
"The numbers started at a million, they've been as low as five-hundred thousand, they've been six-fifty, eight hundred, and I don't know where we're going to find that money," said a visibly frustrated Fire Chief Chuck Norris. "My hole now is nine-hundred forty-one thousand. I didn't know where I was going to get five hundred, I don't know where I'm going to get nine hundred!"
|
|
Norris took issue with part of the proposed budget presented by finance director Bob Due that indicated the City would seek more cash by ensuring that it is collecting all that it can from its ambulance runs, an amount that could bring in more than four hundred forty thousand dollars more than it did last year. Norris, in meetings with his staff, anticipated using the same tool to offset his own looming five hundred thousand dollar cuts and instead saw it as being added to his burden.
|
"Here in the last two hours, it doubled," Norris said. "Please don't dig my hole any deeper. It doubled tonight."
|
But maybe not. There was confusion over which coffer benefits from the anticipated increase in ambulance run funds. There were a lot of numbers rolling out all at once. The fire department is being asked to cut $500,000 from its budget, but the proposed city budget indicates that $796,000 less will be designated for the fire department as compared to last year, and there is this potential increase in funds coming in from ambulance runs.
|
|
But maybe not. There was confusion over which coffer benefits from the anticipated increase in ambulance run funds. There were a lot of numbers rolling out all at once. The fire department is being asked to cut $500,000 from its budget, but the proposed city budget indicates that $796,000 less will be designated for the fire department as compared to last year, and there is this potential increase in funds coming in from ambulance runs.
|
A similar case is true for the police department which is being asked to cut $500,000 but will see $860,000 less than it did last year. City Manager Larry Klein explained that some of those cost reductions are from the decrease in the expense of health benefits charged to the city following new agreements with the unions representing police officers and firefighters.
|
But Norris was not the lone department head in fear over the proposed cuts, whatever they may be and whatever they may add up to. Keith Bales, director of code enforcement, predicted the end of his department which this year had a budget of more than $3.1 million and next year will have $2.7 million, a reduction of more than $350,000. "Two million of that three million is a solid waste contract," Bales said. "$350,000 is a death sentence. The department will be no more."
But Norris was not the lone department head in fear over the proposed cuts, whatever they may be and whatever they may add up to. Keith Bales, director of code enforcement, predicted the end of his department which this year had a budget of more than $3.1 million and next year will have $2.7 million, a reduction of more than $350,000. "Two million of that three million is a solid waste contract," Bales said. "$350,000 is a death sentence. The department will be no more."
|
More on the budget, including slides from the presentation that describe it in detail, below -- just click the link.
No comments:
Post a Comment