Wednesday, October 17, 2007
ICA Approves Budget, Parking Tax Must Now Fall
The state oversight board has approved the City’s proposed 2008 budget and five-year financial forecast. That budget encompasses the state-mandated reduction in the parking tax, which will fall from 45 percent this year to 40 percent in 2008. We should be hearing this morning of the Mayor’s intention as to whether he will veto City Council’s ordinance that would have froze the parking tax at 45 percent.
If Council holds on the freeze, and they include it in their budget review which will begin November 13th, they clearly will be a standoff. They can craft their own budget and submit it as a revision to the ICA, but it would likely not withstand scrutiny and would certainly jeopardize other revenue streams upon which the City is counting.
While the City is to be commended for holding spending to a 1 percent increase next year, they and the ICA have to get working on the future years, where spending is projected to increase from the $420 million next year to $470 million by 2012, a 12 percent jump. That’s definitely not the direction in which spending should be headed, and the state’s overseers need to steer the City toward a more sustainable path.
If Council holds on the freeze, and they include it in their budget review which will begin November 13th, they clearly will be a standoff. They can craft their own budget and submit it as a revision to the ICA, but it would likely not withstand scrutiny and would certainly jeopardize other revenue streams upon which the City is counting.
While the City is to be commended for holding spending to a 1 percent increase next year, they and the ICA have to get working on the future years, where spending is projected to increase from the $420 million next year to $470 million by 2012, a 12 percent jump. That’s definitely not the direction in which spending should be headed, and the state’s overseers need to steer the City toward a more sustainable path.
