Excellent post Greg. Thanks, I missed the meeting! I hope all City Council members vote in support of the proposed five-year budget plan and retain maximum flexibility-- avoiding line item allocations that could create havoc only a few months from now.
I fully expect that the state legislature will cut local government aid funding in an effort to balance the state budget-- it only makes sense; the only question being how much and how it's structured over time. Any such state cuts will place additional pressure on city budget across Minnesota, and that is why we need to maintain maximum flexibility at the local level. Indeed, a modest cut at the state level could easily amount to tens of millions of dollars in added cuts at the local level here in Minneapolis. This is why the organizational changes and streamlining of city government, originally called for in the McKinsey Report, is so important. City business cannot continue as usual, it must adapt to fiscal reality; belts must be tightened, processes improved and efficiencies realized. Raising local taxes beyond the proposed 8 percent per annum is simply NOT an option. The 8 percent level may not even be achievable beyond a couple of years. We should be able to improve the planning/development function in Minneapolis, such that neighborhoods continue to play a primary role, while likewise maintaining progress on the many larger-scale, longer-term development plans currently in the works along Broadway, Franklin, Lake St. and elsewhere throughout the city. It's time to quit complaining and start figuring out how we can leverage our reduced budgets to reach our goals as best we can in the short term. The economy will eventually improve, jobs will again be on the increase and economic development will flourish-- but it won't be next week or next month. In the meantime, basic city services must be maintained and neighborhoods must be assured of a primary role in the planning process. Urge your City Council member to stick with the proposed five-year budget plan and preserve our flexibility to meet the unforeseen challenges that most surely lie ahead. Michael Hohmann Linden Hills > -----Original Message----- > From: [EMAIL PROTECTED] [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]]On Behalf Of > Greg Abbott > Sent: Wednesday, January 29, 2003 6:55 PM > To: [EMAIL PROTECTED] > Subject: [Mpls] Five Year Budget Outline Does Not Hurt NRP > > > Monday night, in my capacity as a board member for the Linden Hills > Neighborhood Council, I attended a meeting called by Barret Lane for > 13th Ward neighborhood groups to discuss the proposed five-year budget > outline and its possible ramifications for NRP funding. > > It was an excellent meeting, and quite helpful in sorting through the > details and heated rhetoric that the budget situation is generating. > snip > > These are dark times for the city. We got ourselves into this mess by > choosing to fund individual programs and projects without regard for > the overall economic picture. Focusing on the prospect of harm to NRP > in isolation, without reference to overall tax and spending policies, > is not a constructive contribution to the debate. Indeed, a narrow > focus on NRP might tie the city�s hands when it desperately needs > flexibility to address the worst budget crisis in living memory. > > ------------------- > Greg Abbott > Linden Hills > 13th Ward > snip TEMPORARY REMINDER: 1. Send all posts in plain-text format. 2. Cut as much of the post you're responding to as possible. ________________________________ Minneapolis Issues Forum - A City-focused Civic Discussion - Mn E-Democracy Post messages to: mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] Subscribe, Unsubscribe, Digest, and more: http://e-democracy.org/mpls
