| Author
|
Post |
 
|
|
rapunzel11
F L I N T O I D
|
Money matters
Flint's fall into deficit is puzzling
FLINT
THE FLINT JOURNAL FIRST EDITION
Sunday, February 24, 2008
By Bryn Mickle
bmickle@flintjournal.com • 810.766.6383
FLINT - Fighting to hold onto his job last fall, Mayor Don Williamson boasted about his city's healthy bottom line. "I don't lie to nobody," Williamson said in September. "The city is the most solvent in the state of Michigan."
Nearly four months later, the picture doesn't look so rosy.
The city's $70-million general fund faces a $4-million deficit, more than 50 city workers have lost their jobs, and the mayor wants voters to pony up $12 million to pay for police services.
How did things get so bad so fast?
City Budget Director Michael A. Townsend said there was no way the administration could have known last summer that the city would be in such bad financial shape.
The projected deficit didn't become clear until more than a month after the election when the city's audit was finished, he said.
State revenue sharing and tax collections were projected too high, while the projected costs of health care increases were $4 million too low, said Townsend.
"We just didn't see that happening," he said.
Those problems were coupled with less revenue from the city income tax because of automaker buyouts and increased costs after settling union contracts.
Flint City Councilman Jim Ananich, however, isn't buying it. Ananich said it was city officials who supplied the auditors with all of the financial figures and should have known what was coming before the election.
"They misinformed the public," he said.
Flint resident Marisa Frasure, 45, said she feels misled but isn't surprised the city is in deficit.
"No jobs, no deficit reduction," Frasure said. "If a house wife ran her household the way these politicians do, she'd have to pull her children out of school, sell the house and put the car up on bricks."
As for Williamson, he maintains the city is still in good shape, dismissing notions to the contrary on Friday.
"I don't believe there is a deficit," said Williamson.
Noting the fiscal year ends June 30, he said the city has more than four months to bring in more revenue.
"We're talking about projections," said Williamson.
But it's those projections that have people nervous about Flint's future.
After an audit was completed in late December, the city acknowledged it had a $4-million hole in its $70-million general fund budget.
The administration believes already announced job cuts and 10 percent budget cuts in most city departments will eliminate the deficit, but that won't solve the problem permanently.
With declines in revenue from taxes and the state expected to continue, city Finance Director Peter Dobrzeniecki said police and fire services eventually may have to be cut unless something is done.
Williamson wants to avoid cuts with a new 6.9-mill police millage, with half the new money going to offset a proposed $6-million reduction in police funding from the general fund.
"We're doing the proper things," said City Administrator Darryl Buchanan.
Flint resident Fred Kennedy questioned how city officials could propose a tax increase at the same time they are laying off employees.
"Who are you going to pay (with the tax hike) if you don't have any employees?" he said. "I don't understand how they are going to ask for more money when people are not working."
Mayoral critics believe Williamson hid the reality of the looming deficit from voters. In the run-up to the November election, Williamson repeatedly stressed the city's $6.4-million surplus as a positive sign of his administration.
"He has lied about the city's finances so that he could get re-elected," said City Councilman Scott Kincaid, who fears Flint is headed down the same road that led to a state financial takeover six years ago.
Dayne Walling, who narrowly lost the November election to Williamson, said Williamson spent millions in taxpayer dollars before the election on "political Band-Aids," including repaving streets and hiring former mayoral opponents for city jobs. "He spent freely from the public purse to get re-elected," said Walling.
Williamson declined to respond to the accusations Friday.
Buchanan, however, said politics played no role in how the budget was portrayed before the election.
"Emphatically no," said Buchanan, who was City Council president at the time.
Aside from the questions of how and why the city finds itself facing a deficit, critics say persuading voters to approve a $12-million property tax increase will be a tough sell.
"No way in hell," said Kincaid, when asked if he would approve putting the millage on the ballot.
If the mayor can't get enough council votes to put it on the ballot, the administration would be left with the option of petitioning residents to put the tax question to a vote.
A police union leader said money generated by the millage would go a "long, long, long way" for the department.
The extra $6 million would be the equivalent of 60 new police officers for a department that now stands at 265 officers, said Keith Speer, president of the Flint Police Officers Association, although Dobrzeniecki said not all the money will go to additional hires.
"We know times are tight," said Speer. "But I'm an optimist."
Journal staff writers Joe Lawlor and Shannon Murphy and Shena Abercrombie contributed to this report. |
_________________
The ignorance of one voter in a democracy impairs the security of all.
John F. Kennedy, speech at Vanderbilt University, May 18, 1963 |
|
Tue Feb 26, 2008 1:33 am |
|
|
rapunzel11
F L I N T O I D
|
Steve- I tried to place a poll on this. failed.
RAP |
_________________
The ignorance of one voter in a democracy impairs the security of all.
John F. Kennedy, speech at Vanderbilt University, May 18, 1963 |
|
|
Tue Feb 26, 2008 1:52 am |
|
|
|
FAQ
Search
Memberlist
Register
Profile
FlintTalk.com Forum Index
> Political Talk
