The mayor has said that everything is on the table but after careful review of his budget everything is clearly not on the table especially when it comes to the CPED. The city is even creating its own development corporation which will be operated by CPED called Riverfront Development Corporation. CPED currently rents all of its office space when they should be using property that the city already owns. Are we a city or a real estate company? I would encourage everyone to review the budget if you have a chance and call your council member and the mayor and let them know how you feel before they vote on the budget Monday at 5:00pm. If you have any questions about this plan please contact me. I have forwarded this plan to the Police Federation and City Council members.
The Plan
The City of Minneapolis is expecting a 6.8%, or $17,944,889 increase in revenues to the General Fund in fiscal year 2005. The Minneapolis Police Department�s budget of $94,136,237 for fiscal year 2005 is mostly paid out of the city�s General Fund with is $280,697,191. The City of Minneapolis would be able to hire 61 new patrol officers at a cost of $55,000 per officer if the city would make the following budget adjustments in its General Fund expenditures for fiscal year 2005 and direct the $3,375,867 in savings to the police department.
� Eliminate the 40.7%, or $887,888 increase to Community Planning and Economic Development (CPED). The $887,888 could be sent to the police department.
� Reduce the Communications Department budget from the recommended $2,370,992 to $1,370,992. Sending the $1,000,000 to the police department. The Communications Department is not used enough nor should it be to warrant such a budget. Council members, the mayor and other department heads are paid enough money to be able to handle their own media relations. Unwillingness to deal with the media doesn�t warrant a $1,611,945 increase since 2002.
� Reduce the proposed Finance Department budget for fiscal year 2005 from $13,762,580 to $12,762,580. This is a 69% increase over the 2004 budget of $7,518,887 as opposed to the mayor�s proposed increase of 83%. $1,000,000 could be directed towards the police department.
� Reduce the Mayor�s Office budget for fiscal year 2005 from the proposed $1,053,899 a 12.2% increase from 2004 to $958,473. This increase is consistent with the city�s raise freeze of 2%. The mayor�s office is not proposing any staffing increases for fiscal year 2005 and he should also be willing to abide by the 2% wage raise standard of the city. The $95,426 could be sent to the police department.
� Reduce the City Council budget for fiscal year 2005 from the proposed $3,322,914 a 15.7% increase from 2004 to $2,930,361. This increase is consistent with the city�s raise freeze of 2%. The City Council is not proposing any staffing increases for fiscal year 2005 and he should also be willing to abide by the 2% wage raise standard of the city. The $392,553could be sent to the police department.
The above figures were taken from page 173 of the Mayor�s proposed 2005 Fiscal year budget.
Booker T Hodges North side
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