CITY FUNDS Council wants mayor to submit budget earlier

The proposed earlier budget might not be as accurate, the mayor noted.
WARREN -- City council will take up new legislation Wednesday to require the mayor to hand in a proposed annual budget by November's end, providing more time for review and debate.
Councilman Vincent Flask, D-5th, is introducing the legislation.
Last year, city council had to tackle a temporary 2005 budget by December's end. It has to put together a complete budget of about $27 million in March.
There was much debate at the time, and a lot of meetings, when Mayor Michael O'Brien proposed a budget that would cut police and fire department overtime and travel. These departments also face wage shortages.
It was O'Brien's first budget as mayor; he formally presents the budget to council after going through it and making final cuts. He has years of past budget experience, however, as a county commissioner and former city councilman.
Proposed time line
Flask now proposes an ordinance spelling out when the appropriation must be submitted.
A second piece of new legislation is an ordinance to provide that "no legislation for the passage of an annual appropriation measure shall be passed until it has been read on three separate days and that such three separate readings shall not be suspended by council."
O'Brien said giving council more time to dig into the budget process is fine, but noted the earlier proposed budget might not be as accurate as council would like.
"We'll start a lot earlier. But one of the reasons we wait later is because we want to include our year-end balances," O'Brien explained. "Now we're going to have to go on history."
The mayor also suggested work sessions with council throughout the year on how the budget process operates.
Flask won election to his council seat in November 2003. O'Brien said sometimes it's more difficult for newer council members to adjust to and comprehend the budget process.
Flask could not be reached to comment Monday.
City Auditor David Griffing said the administration traditionally aims to get the budget to council by Nov. 1, and usually does so. He termed 2004 "an anomaly" because of a new administration's first shot at putting a budget together.