Council members oppose 33% property tax hike

No City Council members support a 64 cent property tax increase.

Most say they want to fund fire and police, but everything else is on the table and can be cut.

"We're not going to be able to take a fingernail clipper to this budget," Councilwoman Sally Robinson said Friday. "This is going to take a chain saw. And that's not the council's job."

The City Council is studying a $198.6 million budget proposed by Mayor Ron Littlefield that includes a 33 percent property tax increase. The mayor is seeking the tax hike because of a revenue shortfall and the rising cost of expenses.

The council plans to meet at 2 p.m. Tuesday to discuss possible cuts to city departments. Last week showed no support from any council member for the entire proposed increase.

Most council members said they are still playing with numbers and trying to see what each penny of the 64 cents funds and how they can make that number come down. Councilman Andraé McGary said Friday he thinks he could stomach up to a 30 cent increase.

"That's a cap where I'm willing to go," he said.

He would be willing to pay for more fire and police, he said, but he is still trying to figure out what else is a necessity.

"It's easy to say, 'I'm for fire, I'm for police, I'm for city workers getting an increase,'" he said. "The hard part is that, for every one of those commitments, there's dollars attached to that."

Councilwoman Deborah Scott does not support any tax increase this year. She said she understands that, at some point, the city must look at one since the last increase came on Sept. 11, 2001.

But this is not the year to do it. Instead, she will look heavily at cuts, she said.

"We have to get serious about just not looking at the priorities, but the most important priorities," Mrs. Scott said.

Councilman Jack Benson said he has not been able to figure out how much of the mayor's tax increase he could stomach, if any.

"I know it's not near what he's requesting right now," Mr. Benson said.

Councilwoman Carol Berz, chairwoman of the Budget, Personnel and Finance Committee, said the council will look at the budget diligently and plans to address constituents' concerns.

The first item is department budgets, then the next week will be city agencies and the third week is benefits, she said.

"The buck stops with us," Dr. Berz said.

WHAT'S NEXTThe City Council will meet 2 p.m. Tuesday in the J.B. Collins meeting room to talk about funding for city departments.

Council members already have discussed delaying money to a retiree medical benefit program, keeping recreation centers hours the same instead of extending them and taking employee salary increases off the table.

Councilman Russell Gilbert said he is scrutinizing every penny of what the tax increase would pay for. For example, he said the mayor proposed two police academies, but he thinks the city could get by with one.

Councilman Peter Murphy said the mayor's proposed tax increase will be reduced, but the question is by how much. And there are only so many cuts the council will be willing to make to balance the budget, especially if the public sees those cuts affecting them.

"I think even our most vocal critics would say we're going too far," Mr. Murphy said.

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