CITY GOVERNMENT Lawmakers work on interim budget

Budget hearings for city general fund departments begin in January.
YOUNGSTOWN -- City lawmakers are expected to pass an interim 2005 budget and take care of all last-minute appropriations for 2004 at their meeting Dec. 29.
When city council's finance committee met last week, there was talk of perhaps having all lawmakers vote on the interim budget at the Dec. 15 council session.
Councilman Rufus Hudson, D-2nd, a committee member, said, however, there were some items in the budget he wanted to discuss first before passing the spending plan.
Attendance
Finance Director David Bozanich reminded the committee that council members had to make sure they attended that meeting and to pass the interim budget, which now stands at more than $23 million.
Bozanich said that if enough council members don't show up to pass the budget, by law he can't spend any city money beginning in 2005.
"We'll have some upset city employees and vendors," Bozanich said.
Six council members are needed to attend the session and pass the budget.
Special meeting
Councilman Richard Atkinson, R-3rd, committee chairman, set the special meeting for 5:30 p.m. Dec. 29. Council members Hudson, Carol Rimedio-Righetti, D-4th, Artis Gillam Sr., D-1st, and Mark Memmer, D-7th, all said they would be able to attend.
Bozanich said he would take one-quarter of what the city budget was this year to establish the interim budget.
He said the city general fund budget for 2004 is around $92 million, which doesn't include appropriations for the Community Development Agency and capital improvements. The 2004 figure may increase because the city must wait until the end of the year to close out its books. The city's entire budget is nearly $120 million.
Bozanich said Youngstown is seeing a steady improvement in its finances, with about a 2 percent growth rate.
"The balances will be tight, but we are steadily seeing a shift away from negative numbers," the finance director said.
Budget hearings would begin in January.
Figures
Right now, council's quarterly budget would be $149,216 to begin 2005. The mayor's office would get $77,739 to spend for the first three months of the new year.
The largest amount of money would go to the public works, street, fire and police departments and municipal court.
The public works department would receive $1.1 million; street department, $1.2 million; police department, $4.2 million; fire department, $2.8 million; and municipal court, $929,280.
Law Director John McNally IV, who will be leaving city government at the end of this year to become a Mahoning County commissioner, also told council last week he believed the salaries for council members, and the elimination of council legislative aides, should begin in January.
City voters in November approved a charter amendment eliminating the aides, who typically are the spouses of council members.
The aides' $27,817 salaries -- $28,117 for council president aide -- would go directly to the council member and council President James Fortune Sr.
Members now make $600 a year, the president $900.
Voters also allowed council to change annual salaries before the start of a new term instead of relying on a charter amendment to do so.