Daily Herald editorial

Austin home and business owners who think their city council could have done better than to simply pass along a gigantic, state-inspired tax increase for 2012 can at least be grateful for the efforts of council members Roger Boughton and Judy Enright. They came to Monday night’s budget debate with suggestions for minimizing the impact on taxpayers. We appreciate the leadership Boughton and Enright showed, even if it was in vain.

Because state legislators and the governor eliminated a key tax credit, Austin city officials and council members have known for months that taxpayers here would face a sharp increase in 2012. For months the council discussed ways to minimize the impact on local taxpayers by reducing city expenses, but never got very far with the process. Monday night’s meeting, when Boughton and Enright offered a couple of last ditch proposals, was typical of the council’s budget- and tax-setting efforts; despite 45 minutes of discussion, neither Boughton’s suggestion that the city eliminate its contingency fund, or Enright’s proposal for an across-the-board budget cut mustered enough votes to pass. Indeed, a majority of the council was so opposed to trimming spending that they even rejected a token budget reduction of $35,000 — one-quarter of 1 percent of the city budget.

Several council members were worried that making budget cuts at the last minute was not a good idea. In that, they were correct. It’s something the council should have done many months ago — but did not.

In the face of that sort of resistance to doing the tough work of governing, it was almost a foregone conclusion that Boughton and Enright’s ideas would be rejected by their colleagues. But Austin residents should at least applaud the fact that the two were at least willing to try.