Friday, December 12, 2008
Midura Responds to Nagin's Changes
Posted by David Winkler-Schmit on Fri, Dec 12, 2008 at 8:10 PM
Councilwoman Shelley Midura has responded to Mayor Nagin’s recent press conferences announcing his changes — including a citywide hiring freeze, a 2.5 percent budget cut to all city departments and line item vetoes of additional funding to the District Attorney’s office and the public defender’s office — to the city budget the Council passed on December 1.
Here’s what Midura has to say:
“Budget projections indicate the City faces severe financial crises for the years 2010-2013. The budget as originally passed by the Council discounted the upwards of $25 million deficits facing the City from 2010-2013, which would peak at $51 million in 2012. The Mayor’s veto and accompanying cuts help reduce and push off the crisis for another year, but this financial crisis is not going away, and the City has to begin to live within its means. I am pleased that the millage increase is no longer on the table and that the Mayor has responded to the Council’s budget proposal with cuts in expenditures rather than a millage increase to fill the budget gap. I am also pleased that the Mayor is proposing that the remaining $10 million of the CDL will not be tapped until 2010 and that the City’s reserves will be increased to a responsible 8%. Because of the future looming budget crises, I am inclined to support these measures.
Is this the path towards a balanced budget that I would have chosen? No it is not, but I appreciate the spirit of compromise being extended by the Mayor by abandoning the millage increase. Is this budget an improvement over the one currently proposed by the Council? I believe it is, with some caveats, especially in regards to concerns I have for criminal justice system funding. I would like to see some tweaks made to the Mayor’s new proposal, but I also believe it is a more fiscally responsible one than both his original proposal as well as the budget passed by the Council. What we cannot do is continue to reduce tax rates while increasing our spending. I am going to continue to advocate for fiscal discipline with our city budget, but it will require sacrifices and compromise from elected officials and citizens alike.”
Comments (2)
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Cutting needed money out of criminal justice programs and, simultaneously, education, sounds like a recipe to keep New Orleans #1 in crime. How about cutting some fat out of contractor budgets?
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B, just to be clear, Council has limited power over contracts. Only the Mayor can sign contracts. So for example, say the Council cut a department's funding with the intent to cut fat out of a contract through that department that the Council did not like. The Mayor could simply cancel or reduce the amount of a different contract to fund the one that he wants. The Mayor has broad authority when it comes to contracts. The Council doesn't have a scalpel with the budget, it has an axe.
