Miller, Shank Propose over $1M in Budget Cuts

Councilman Jim Miller presented a tax rate proposal Monday that would potentially cut $1 million from the city's budget.

Miller and Councilman Mitch Shank spent the better part of a week developing a series of alterations to the budget—which the Mayor initially proposed with a one-cent tax reduction to a rate of 59 cents on every $100. The rate for the current fiscal year is currently set at 60 cents.

The preliminary budget can be found .

Miller and Shank's proposal was rejected as an amendment in a 4-2 vote Monday night. Shank and Miller were the only votes in favor of amending the tax rate to 56 cents.

However, other councilmen in favor of a 59-cent tax rate said they would be willing to look at the two-page spreadsheet Miller provided in hopes of finding ways to cut the budget.

There was some tension about the proposal—which came one week after Miller and Shank first proposed a 56-cent tax rate, frustrating fellow councilmen by suggesting a rate without the means by which to cut the budget.

Monday, they did that, but Council President Bill Martin voiced his displeasure with the process.

Martin said he was unprepared to vote on approximately $1 million in cuts Monday night, and questioned Councilman Miller as to why it was reported in Patch May 28 that Miller had hundreds of thousands of dollars in cuts in mind. Martin said there was no communication of those figures from Miller until they were presented during Monday's meeting.

A PDF file of the proposed cuts is included in the media section of this post.

Among the proposed cuts are five vacant positions on the city payroll. Those positions, according to the data Miller produced, are estimated at a net of $299,200 against the budget.

Those positions:

• $93,700 for police officer
• $83,100 for police officer
• $84,600 for inspector
• $20,100 for tourism employee
• $17,700 for part-time parking enforcement

Other cuts Miller proposed:

• $38,000 for auxiliary police
• $76,500 for an increase in employee healthcare 5 percent
• $28,400 for an increase in employee retirement 1 percent (not including police)
• $40,000 to defer half the proposed server replacement
• $50,000 for reducing contractual service for the Department of Public Works
• $35,000 for arrow boards
• $6,200 for electric door openers
• $19,300 for shop HVAC
• $8,300 for a shop fuel oil tank removal
• $300,000 to defer half of Lewis Lane capital project
• $30,000 for Lewis Lane bridge
• $187,000 for general fund debt service

A public hearing on the budget is set for May 9 at 6 p.m. at City Hall.