Where would you start when shoring up Fayetteville’s $1.45 million budget shortfall? | Weekly Poll
Banner, News, Polls — By Christopher Spencer on October 3, 2010 at 6:57 pm
Where would you start when shoring up Fayetteville's $1.45 million budget shortfall?
- Cut city services and/or staff (45%, 45 Votes)
- Raise the millage rate (28%, 28 Votes)
- Dig into the reserves again (17%, 17 Votes)
- Too depressing to answer (10%, 10 Votes)
Total Voters: 100
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Total Voters: 66
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7 Comments
Chris, you need to realize we’ve already cut $2.6 million from the budget over the last two years. More than 20 positions continue to go unfilled. And last year, we held off on half a million in vehicle purchases. The truth is that we are already pursuing a combination of solutions.
I want to explain the situation with the reserves. Fayetteville has a disaster fund in which we maintain 60 days of operating capital. Almost every other city only maintains 30 days. Above and beyond the disaster fund which is about $6 million, we have $1.5 million in cash reserves. The reserves are there exactly for times like this. It might be hard to see, since we have been able to avoid cutting services through smart financial planning, but the situation there truly is dire and this is what our reserves are for.
If we’re not going to use the reserves in this kind of situation, what should we use them for? It’s my opinion, but they are there to be used when we need them.
Thanks for stopping by and commenting, Matt.
I think all three tools should be on the table. I’m not educated enough …yet … about the budget issues to really state a concrete opinion, but I did want to get a pulse from folks about their thoughts.
If you are making the argument that there is nothing left to cut, I’d have to disagree. The furlough days seemed to an effective tool – even though they were ultimately not utilized. Maybe they should be used again. There is a reason private business uses them to spare further layoffs.
I know that’s only part of the way, but it could be one of several solutions.
Reserves are going to have to figure in some way. There’s no doubt about that, but should they be used wholesale to completely fill the deficit. After doing that for two years, essentially, I think it’s time to consider other measures.
I hope to find time this week to sit down and educate myself more about the budget so that I can formulate an editorial opinion on the issue.
I guess this is my point: we’ve done a lot more than use the reserves to get here.
You’re very right that the first step is trimming up and cutting the fat. We’ve done that. We’re at the point that cutting more means ending programs that Fayetteville citizens want to maintain, and cutting jobs. I agree with you that furlough days should be used before we have to do that, and furlough days remain an option for us to use in 2011.
We could raise property taxes, but since the recent passage of the school millage, Fayetteville’s combined property tax rate is the highest in NWA. On top of that, a renewal of our sales taxes goes to a vote of the people next year, and we must be very cautious not to jeopardize that revenue. If that vote failed we would lose practically all of the general fund revenue. Those are only some of the reasons I don’t think a property tax increase is a good idea this year.
But mainly, it’s this: we’ve cut more than $2 million from the budget. We have cash on hand that was set aside for hard economies, and everyone can agree these have been the hardest years. If we’ve already made a lot of cuts, the economy really is in bad shape, and combined property taxes for Fayetteville are already the highest, why wouldn’t we use the reserves? This is what they were meant for.
But mainly, it’s not right to characterize the reserves as being “used wholesale to completely fill the deficit.” It ignores everything else we’ve done.
If I recall correctly, the city – like the county – has a certain range in which they can raise the millage rate without the need for an election. I think that’s the atomic option and should be a last resort thing.
So I agree that, in my opinion, raising the millage is the least palatable of the solutions
Are you saying that general expenses were cut $2 million 2009 and 2010 through cost-saving measures? If so, that’s pretty effective money-management. While I was aware that efforts have been made, I didn’t know savings were that substantial.
The vast bulk of shoring up has happened with reserves, though, right? During the past two years that was my news takeaway from the process. Do you happen to know – and can you put numbers to – how the shortfalls were made up the past two years?
I’m not asking that as a challenge, but because I’m very interested and think there’s the potential for diverse and informed opinions on this issue. I hope to find time with Paul Becker at the city this week to get my questions answered.
In Little Rock, during a period of bad income they stopped mowing grass at city parks, for example. They also closed the bathrooms except during special events to the lower costs of routine cleanups.
It seems solutions like those might help us through these tough times.
So where is the proposed budget. I cannot find a link to it anywhere. I will gladly review it and slash the necessary amounts.
Is it easy? Not a chance, however just take a peak at the continued money coming out of the pockets of citizens and business’ as the city needs more money.
Again, It would be interesting if the city were forced to operate like an actual business, but that would put too many out of work and kill too many projects that should only be undertaken IF there are huge surpluses.
I’ll wait to see the response to Chris’ questions before sounding in on this.