Council members: "Wasteful spending occurs daily at City Hall"
From Sunshine Review
July 26, 2009 Jacksonville City Council Members say there is a lot of wasteful spending going on in the City Hall and opportunities to save money are passed over.[1]
[edit] City Council members
There are projects and paychecks leaving Jacksonville City Hall that have too much weight, according to City Councilman John Crescimbeni.
"Trust me, I see it everyday when I'm around City Hall. There's lots of opportunities to save money," says Crescimbeni, who claims to have found $20-million the city can afford to save without making sacrifices to services and programs - for example, consolidating the bills they send to your home. "I heard one mentioned today about executive spending increasing by $10-million. That's something we need to look at."
While millage rate decisions and budget talks are in the works, councilmen like Don Redman say they want to look for places to watch spending in City Hall.
"I see things on a daily basis that I think could be done more economically, better, maybe without some of the things that we have," says Redman. When asked if that meant specifically with personnel or equipment, Redman said, "Both. Well, basically personnel."
[edit] Millage
Mayor John Peyton proposed a millage rate hike, which Redman opposed. Yet, Redman does not want spending cuts that threaten to limit city services.
City Council President Richard Clark sees a necessity to cut the in-house spending through the city council's budget.
"The very first thing on our line item of agenda, the very first day of our budget hearings is going to be the city council budget," says Clark. "So, we'll know right there how serious we are about cutting."
Projects like business services including the procurement process and motor pool operations are questionable forms of city hall spending in the eyes of some councilmen, like Bill Bishop who gave a two-page inquire to the Council Auditor with items like these on it.
"There are a few on the council that have said for a couple of years now, even when times were better, that we should go through and look for areas to cut," says City Councilman Clay Yarborough. "That is an argument that's been there even if it wasn't one that was recognized."
The maximum millage rate that has been in discussions for a while will be subject to a vote by the Jacksonville City Council at their 5pm meeting this Tuesday. If Mayor Peyton's proposed millage rate increase goes through, the average homeowner would be paying $97 in the next fiscal year. It would also fill about $50-million of a $90-million budget hole.[1]
[edit] External links
- City of Jacksonville official website
- Jacksonville City Council website
- Jacksonville mayor's website
[edit] References
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