Council has its work cut out for them
Published 12:00 am Friday, January 10, 2003
Congratulations are in order to both Lynn Koch and Tracey Chamberlain on their recent appointments to the Austin City Council.
The two were selected to their positions by the council after 16 applicants applied for the vacancies.
From our vantage, Koch and Chamberlain are sincere about their efforts in helping the council get through the next few years -- which don't figure to be pretty, at least financially.
It's no secret the state Legislature is figuring out ways to help pare down the state's $4.56 billion deficit. It's also no secret that Gov. Tim Pawlenty said he's going to figure out a way to balance the budget, without raising taxes.
Pawlenty's hinted that one way to solve this problem is to trim the amount of Local Government Aid that Minnesota cities receive. For a city like Austin, which relies heavily on LGA, that's scary news.
We're confident Chamberlain and Koch will help the council make fiscally prudent decisions in the coming months that will benefit our community.