This much, so far, City Council members agree on: They need somewhere between $14.3.million and $23.5.million more than they have.
The problem of raising that money is another matter.
It has long been a consensus on the council that the city needs more money to properly maintain its roads and parks and hire more police and firefighters. But Tuesday, they began to get into the details of exactly how much they think they need for those items.
John Crawford, R-at large, led the discussion saying it was meant to decide where the council needs to go, so that in the next four weeks they can decide on the measures needed to get there.
At issue are property tax caps that have cost the city $53.million in revenue since 2009 which have severely crimped city budgets. In addition, falling gas tax revenues have put the city $60.million behind on street projects, tight budgets have left its ranks of police officers and firefighters depleted, and there's not enough money to maintain the city's treasured parks system. Falling revenues have also used up much of the city's cash reserve.
The city administration estimates there will be about an $11.million gap in the 2014 budget. Council members are considering everything from big cuts in city employee benefits to property tax increases to a hike in the county income tax.
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Though there was some confusion over how much revenue the city will have for streets and roads and no consensus on whether county economic development income taxes would continue to be used to pay for them, members agreed they need between $6.6.million and $8.6.million for streets. They also backed $3.million for parks, and $2.7.million for the police and fire departments.
They deferred a decision on how much cash to keep on hand. The administration wants at least $9.2.million, which would be a 7.percent reserve, but Crawford suggested that with the Legacy Fund and other uncommitted fund balances that figure might be able to drop as low as $2.million.
Next week, the council will examine the revenue streams available to pay for these things. It will also be the first of the legally required public hearings on the tax increases being considered.
