Council OKs budget of 72.4M

A councilman is concerned more about the 2008 budget, rather than the 2007 ledger.
By TIM YOVICH
VINDICATOR TRUMBULL STAFF
WARREN -- By an 8-1 vote, city council has approved a 72.4 million budget for 2007.
Councilman Gary Fonce, D-at large, cast the dissenting vote during the Tuesday special meeting.
Councilwoman Helen Rucker, D-at large, did not vote because she showed up for the meeting after lawmakers had voted on the fiscal measure.
Fonce said before the meeting that he couldn't vote for the budget, although it has an 853,456 surplus.
He explained that although the city will have money to operate in 2007, it will lose income tax revenue because of local job cuts and buyouts.
Auditor David Griffing said income tax revenue projections show revenue at nearly 18.2 million in 2007 but show a 700,000 decrease in 2008. He pointed to Delphi Packard Electric on Dana Street, which moved out of the city in August.
Those employees who don't live in the city won't be paying city income tax. Griffing said he doesn't know how much of a loss will result from the Dana operation because Delphi hasn't provided the figures.
Fonce charged that Mayor Michael J. O'Brien plans to increase the city payroll by hiring two additional police officers. He said the mayor hasn't cut the number of city employees through attrition or by combining job duties.
Another concern
Councilman Alford L. Novak, D-2nd, finance committee chairman, expressed concern because the budget doesn't take into account anticipated employee pay raises.
He called attention to three union contracts in the police department that expire at the end of the year, along with the contract with the Warren Management Association, which represents department heads and managers.
Also, Novak explained, the city's 0.5 percent income tax expires at the end of 2007 and must be renewed.
The city administration plans on saving wages by cutting costs. For example, the mayor intends to use inmates from the Trumbull Correctional Institution to perform the task. The 2007 budget allocates 24,500 for grass cutting.
Two companies were paid 25,000 to cut grass this year, Novak said.
He said before the meeting that inmates can't work on private property and are limited as to the equipment they can use because of liability. He pointed out that the large number of foreclosures in the city are resulting in more lawns that need mowing.
He said foreclosures are increasing and people are just picking up and moving out of the city. As a result, Novak explained, those who move out don't pay for water and sewage and some even take the city-owned trash cans with them.
yovich@vindy.com