BUDGET REQUESTSDepartment budget requests for the 2011-12 fiscal year include:• $20 million: Request for a firing range for the Chattanooga Police Department• $5 million: Pavement management request for Public Works• $1.3 million: Request to renovate the Hixson Recreation Center• $1.3 million: Renovation requests for Montague ParkSource: Chattanooga
A requested capital budget for Chattanooga is more than twice the current budget, but city officials say not all the spending will be approved.
Capital spending by city departments is $56 million this fiscal year, trimmed from $69 million in requests. Requests totaling $119.6 million have been filed for the fiscal year that starts July 1.
“We know there’s not enough money for that,” said Richard Beeland, spokesman for Mayor Ron Littlefield. “This is a wish list.”
The mayor will give his proposed capital budget to the City Council in the coming weeks after the general fund budget is announced.
Beeland said administrators from city departments and the mayor’s office will work out a “reasonable budget” to present to the council.
Among the budget requests this year are $20 million for a police firing range, $5 million for pavement management, $2.6 million for renovations at Montague Park and the Hixson Recreation Center and $1.9 million in traffic studies and improvements at Enterprise South industrial park, where the new Volkswagen plant is located.
Chattanooga Police Deputy Chief Mike Williams said Thursday the police department needs a firing range, but the request hasn’t been a top priority for the city.
“That’s been in there the last five years, probably,” he said. “That’s nothing new.”
Council Chairwoman Pam Ladd said the administration and council will vet the list. She said the almost $120 million price tag does look enormous at first blush.
But there also are state and federal grants, along with specified funds separate from the general fund, that help pay for many projects, she said. “It sounds a little overwhelming, but it may be some of the money is already there,” she said.