Mayor Law Delivers 2010 Budget Proposal
No Increase in Property Tax
The budget focuses on core responsibilities and is smaller than the 2009 adopted budget by 3.5%. The budget also does not include any increase in property tax. “We will not raise taxes next year,” said Mayor Denis Law. “This is not a time to impact our citizens with tax increases to fill our revenue shortfall."
The proposed 2010 budget totals $212 million. Of that, $98 million represents the General Fund budget, and $29 million is for capital projects. The rest of the budget is dedicated to other funds. 52% of the expenditures in the General Fund are dedicated to public safety, which includes police, courts, and fire and emergency services.
With the slowing of the economy, the preliminary projections indicated a gap of about $6 million between revenues and expenditures, a shortfall of more than 6% of the General Fund budget. In order to make up this budget gap the proposed budget eliminates 50 positions, 35 of which result in layoffs.
To read the mayor's complete budget message, click here. To read the press release, click here. To watch video presentation, click here.