Budget discussion continues
Published 10:06 am Monday, August 17, 2009
More discussion on the city’s 2010 budget is planned for today as the council looks to set a tax levy cap by September.
Currently, the proposed budget includes a 4.59 percent levy increase, which would amount to roughly an extra $10 per year in city taxes for Austin homeowners on an average $102,000 house.
The tax increase would bring in an additional $170,000 to the city based on the 2009 levy and, along with a number of discussed budget cuts, would be a way for Austin to deal with $876,833 that has been unallotted by Gov. Tim Pawlenty for 2010.
Council members generally agreed during their last meeting on Aug. 3 that they’d like to chip away at the 4.59 percent number. A maximum levy, however, would have to be set by Sept. 15 by law.
The levy could still be lowered after this date.
City administrator Jim Hurm said he expects the cap to be set at a Sept. 8 council meeting.
To help with the budget discussion, council members requested a list of suggestions from city workers, compiled from a previous meeting.
That list contains 35 cost-saving ideas, including cutting all departments equally, eliminating city funding of the downtown flower program and delaying vehicle replacement.
Some suggestions — like delaying vehicle replacements — are already being done, as noted by comments on the list.
An equal cut to all departments is generally considered unfeasible because units that are heavily dependent on staff, like the police and fire departments, would be disproportionately affected.
Also coming up among the workers’ ideas was talk of a hiring freeze and furloughs, as well as the closure of Riverside Arena.
The budget discussion will occur during the council’s work session, which will be held immediately after the regular 5:30 p.m. city council meeting.