City Council to Vote on Budget Tonight

The Aberdeen City Council will vote (Monday) on Mayor Michael E. Bennett’s  $12.6 million spending plan that includes a property tax reduction and raises for employees.

Councilwoman Ruth Elliott said she will vote against the budget because it does not meet the state's constant yield requirement that spending remain flat at the level of the current budget year. Other council members have said they would approve of the budget because taxes have been lowered and the administration has made responsible spending cuts.

Bennett’s proposed budget would reduce the city property tax rate by almost a penny, from nearly 69 cents per $100 of assessed value to 68 cents per $100 of assessed value—a one percent decrease.

That means, a taxpayer with a home assessed at $100,000 who paid $687.50 in municipal property taxes during the current fiscal year would see that bill reduced to $680 for FY 2012.

Tax Levy

The council meeting will be held at 7 p.m. in City Hall. The full agenda for tonight's meeting can be found by clicking here.

Tempers flared last Monday during a City Council work session to discuss the budget when Elliott accused Bennett of padding the budget and intentionally evading her. Then she proposed a dozen additional cuts including:

• The senior center from $37,000 to $35,000.
• Police Department special patrols from $45,000 to $38,000.
• Police overtime from $125,000 to $110,000.
• Ammunition for police officers from $15,000 to $10,000.
• Parks and recreation swim club program from $10,000 to $9,000.

In each case, with two months remaining in the current budget year, there was plenty of money left over that had not yet been spent, Elliott has said.

"There's plenty of money but they just will not budge," she said of the administration. "We can amend it and there have been no amendments. I think we can do more for the taxpayer than we're doing."

Because there has been no additional effort to reduce spending, Elliott will vote no, she said.

"I'm not going to vote for the budget," Elliott said. "I can't. I'm not saying that I'm always right. But I know we can bring down the budget."

City Manager Doug Miller said that the budget has been reviewed carefully and Elliott’s suggested cuts would have an adverse effect on the administration of the city.

“You can’t indiscriminately say, take it out of this or that. Those numbers mean something,” Miller said. “The mayor and I and department heads have scoured the budget to see how we can keep cutting it.”

For example, reducing the ammunition budget would affect the hours officers spend on the firing range for qualification.

“They have to do a day fire and a night fire,” Miller said.

Reducing the police overtime budget would jeopardize the staffing strategies, he said.

“We want to have a minimum amount of people on the street at all times,” Miller said. “To cut overtime, there would be crap shoots on certain shifts.”

Miller said police special patrols are reimbursed in certain instances such as those at Ripken Stadium or housing authority properties.

“But during the holidays we will have special patrols to ward off shoplifting and purse snatching and that kind of thing,” Miller said.

The swim club is in need of renovations, Miller said. Requirements have changed and the high diving board has been removed. Still, the City is working with the Boys & Girls Club to open the pool to residents for more open swimming.

“We want to maintain that as a nice facility,” Miller said.

And Miller said he was shocked that Elliott would want to cut funding from the senior center.

“We can’t stop heating it. We can’t stop cooling it,” Miller said.

Elliott has recommended the budget be cut by at least $73,000 to reach the constant yield tax rate of $.6745 cents per $100 of assessed value—forcing the municipality to keep spending flat at the level of the current budget year.

Under Bennett’s proposed budget, the tax levy (or amount to be raised by taxes) would increase 1.12 percent from $9.2 million under the current fiscal year budget to $9.3 million for the budget year that begins July 1. 

Miller said the city tries not create a culture that punishes employees for fiscal responsibility and the administration doesn't only consider fiscal responsibility during the budget drafting process. Reducing the tax burden is a constant concern, he said.

“We have a target tax rate but it’s going to take years to get there,” Miller said.