City of Evanston Blog
Budget Questions Answered
Staff continues to work on answering questions raised at the January 9 budget workshop. The latest compilation of answers can be found here (PDF). More answers will be posted throughout the week on the City's budget website.
The City Council's next budget workshop is Saturday January 23 at 8:30 AM in the City Council Chambers.
As a participant of the community budget workshops and as a taxpayer who supports fiscal responsibility, I applaud the work of our City Manager and staff who prepared the budget for this year. Early on in the process, ALL citizens were invited to participate and give input. Staff was also asked to find ways to cut expenses. What came out of the process, was a well-reasoned and fiscally responsible budget. A budget that doesn't keep going back to the taxpayer and instead looks at how we can get our spending in line with our resources.
As a taxpayer, I expect ESSENTIAL City services. These include adequate public safety (police and fire), streets that are plowed in the winter and cleaned in the summer, an infrastructure that is well-maintained (not deferred to another time), water, sanitation services and a few other essential items.
EVERYTHING else falls under the category of "nice-to-have" but not essential.
As was said numerous times during the budget workshops: "there are no sacred cows." When the budget was presented, I was impressed by the fact that ALL City departments were affected by spending cuts.
While the branch libraries, ECMC, and a plethora of services are arguably important to many citizens, they still do not fall under the category of ESSENTIAL services. If Evanston had a budget surplus, I would definitely support continuation and even expansion of many valuable programs. However, we simply do NOT have the money and need to live within our means.
As a City, the Council and taxpayers must focus on NEEDS rather than WANTS. We cannot afford to continue spending beyond our means and expecting struggling taxpayers to pick up the bill.
I support the adoption of the budget as presented to the Council. Will it be painful? Absolutely. Will everyone like it? Absolutely not. Is it necessary? Yes.
January 19, 2010 10:34 AM