The Independent Budget Analyst’s Office has released a review of Mayor Jerry Sanders’ five-year financial outlook and outlined some possible ways to help close the significant budget gaps expected in those years.
Among the possibilities — many of which have been mentioned before — are mandatory furloughs for employees, managed competition, user fee increases, leasing the city’s guest boxes, and increasing property transfer taxes or the business license tax.
The report from Independent Budget Analyst Andrea Tevlin also mentions that new park and recreation facilities, fire stations and libraries are slated to go online during the 2009-10 budget year. Those facilities will cost an addition $11.7 million to run in the first year alone. Tevlin’s report says “serious consideration” should be given to whether opening those facilities makes sense at the same time the city is cutting other services.
The issue is expected to be discussed at Wednesday’s meeting of the council Budget and Finance Committee.