After four hours of deliberation last night, the Racine City Council, acting as a committee of the whole, approved amendments to the 2008 operating budget that will increase spending by $723,341. That pretty much restores all the funds cut when it appeared that tardy legislative shenanigans in Madison had capped the city's spending at a level lower than planned.
The budget that goes before the council tonight for approval will carry a total tax levey of $42,816,942, just $7,500 below the state-mandated limit.
The tax rate will be $10.76.
The budget restores four positions that had tentatively been cut: one police officer, two firefighters and a community center director.
Amendments to the capital improvement budget and five-year plan reduced 2008 borrowing by $240,000, to $7,660,000, almost exactly what Mayor Gary Becker originally submitted.
UPDATE, 11/20: The budget was approved Tuesday night, 10 - 4. Voting in favor: Anderson, Kaplan, Maack, Weidner, Shakoor II, Friedel, Helding, Wisneski,
Spangenberg and Hart. Voting against: Coe, DeHahn, Karas and Mozol.
Julie Dresen must be counting the days now before she can take up residence at city hall.
ReplyDeleteI am surprised that DRC nor RAMAC offered to help the City with Grant writing wait maybe I am not since all the DRC and RAMAC can do is suck the life out of Racine.
ReplyDeleteSad to think this is the case.
Thank you City Fathers to restoring the Police and Fire
On further review we see that all the firemen have NOT been brought back this is very bad. Are we undermaned also what is the deal with I.T. is is still part of the City?
ReplyDeleteNor is it listed if the GRANT WRITER is in the budget if we lose three firemen for a grant writer perhaps others should be out of a job.
Yes the grant writer/administrator is in the budget.
ReplyDeleteSo how mad are we about this?
ReplyDeleteMyself I am very upset but I was saving my rage for John Lehman.
Is the budget a done deal?
The budget is done as of Tuesday's meeting. One firefighter is gone. Grant writer is in. MIS is outsourced. Community Center position is in. Cop is in.
ReplyDeleteTaxes are maxed out to the state limit allowed. Add to that a $50 fee for new sewer fee. I heard it was voted on Monday and only two voted against it. Not sure who. Does anyone know? I want to call my alderman when my property tax bill comes and either thank him or otherwise.
Scorecard:
Mayor 1 People 0
Fire Dept is down how many?
ReplyDeleteOne this year.
ReplyDeleteI think over the last five years it is something like 15-20???
One station gone.
Still servicing Wind Point and another smaller burb.
Yes the budget is a done deal and yes I am pretty upset over some things about it.
ReplyDeleterecall we target one and see the rest jump in line. Lets go for the top
ReplyDeleteyou guys should come to a budget meeting. the fire chief told the council that things were being handled and getting two back would even out his staffing on all shifts.
ReplyDeleteHow about instead of threatening recalls, you run for Alderman. If you live in an even district, you can begin circulating petitions in December. Get off the blog and get involved.
ReplyDeleteColt - your alderman is Q.A. Shakoor II. He is up for re-election this spring. Last time he ran unopposed and he got a whopping 68 votes! How many of your neighbors would agree with him that the 8th district is one of the "safest areas in the city"? Maybe it is time for a change? Get in there and show those tax and spenders how it's done!
ReplyDeleteOops - he got only 58 votes.
ReplyDeleteNot everyone is the type to be an alderman, however it does not mean those that have no desire to run can't have certain expectations of those that are in an elected office. To imply people shouldn't complain unless they want to run for office is a pretty miserable excuse. In fact, I'd suspect the person who said that is in reality an alderman themselves.
ReplyDeleteI personally feel the grant administrator position was an extra frivilous expense that was not necessary at this time. I also feel the extra 40 grand for the community centers is a joke. The aldermen who voted for this should be ashamed of themselves for being such lapdogs.
colt, I heard the mayor was the single person who wanted to get rid of cops and firemen. And, that Q.A. actually drives around his district and calls the police when he sees things that look illegal or dangerous.
ReplyDeleteWhy complain about Lehman? I doubt he would ever suggest removing either police or firemen. I understand he tries to get as much money for Racine as possible. You should be angry at Vos, who wants to eliminate as much as possible so he can have bragging rights to holding taxes down....even at the expense of public safety.
Lehman goes down for his lack of spine in standing up to Sen Decker over the film Tax Credits.
ReplyDeleteVoss worked for that as hard as he could
I am becoming a big Q.A Fan again I do not need to surport everything he does just why did he.
Right now Q.A. Rocks