Budget should be scrutinized
Published 12:00 am Friday, December 13, 2002
Thursday's visit by Gov.-elect Tim Pawlenty gave residents a glimmer of hope that everything will be OK, as far as the funding of basic services, including our area's police and sheriff's departments and funds for roads and bridges.
But the reality is also that excess funds will need to be curtailed. There's going to be a lot of belt-tightening at the state level. As a result, it's going to trickle down to the local level.
What does that mean for Austin? It means existing and incoming city council members will have to scrutinize the budget and see what projects can wait a few more years, which ones can be scaled back and which ones can be eliminated altogether.
The alternative is raising taxes, which is something no one wants to see. That's why we encourage our city leaders to scrutinize the budget first, before it's too late.