At their May 24th, 2010 meeting, the Salisbury City Council recognized a $69,481 addition to the Payment in Lieu of Taxes (PILOT) from the Parking Authority to the General Fund. There was no agreement on appropriating those funds. They were applied to reduce the amount of surplus that the city was bringing forward to balance the General Fund budget. Due to the large number of unmet needs this year due to the tight economy, Mayor Ireton suggested that it would be better to utilize these additional funds than to go to surplus. In an email on Thursday May 27th, 2010 he suggested several possible uses for these funds and requested that Council Members indicate which of these possible uses they would favor. The suggestions were as follows:
Additional Police Vehicles ($30,429 per vehicle)
Additional Ambulance (lease purchase $47,135 annual cost)
Traffic Signal – Naylor Mill Rd./Northwood Dr. ($20,000 can be used to leverage $80,000 in State Aid.)
Paving West Rd. ($54,400 can be used to leverage $217,600 in State Aid)
Citywide Dam Safety Measures ($50,000)
Street Paving (Burton St. – Lake Street to City Limits $45,500)
Street Paving (Rose St. – Lake Street to City Limits $56,000)
His intent was for the Council to amend the budget to include these items before he took action on the budget. Two of the Council Members indicated that they were not interested in taking additional action on the budget at this time.
“I had hoped that we could come together, in the spirit of compromise and good faith – and modify our budget in view of the changes made last Monday evening. It would have meant that council would have to meet and vote on one of the many options that I put forth. Consistently, we have recognized that June 15, 2010 is the deadline for passage. Since that date is two and a half weeks away, it was my goal to continue working. Some of the options listed above are ones that we can fund and that address public safety in so many ways. Given the present situation, I will take the holiday and decide whether or not to force the council back to the table to negotiate using my veto power,” said Mayor Ireton.
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10 comments:
Hey Mayor Ireton, WHAT ABOUT EMERGENCY PERSONNEL INSTEAD!!!!!!!
Rather than paying time and a half for Police Officers, why not HIRE one new Officer instead.
Forgive me Folks but I can't hold back on this one. This proposal is complete BS.
Hurray for the council members who wouldn't support the proposed purchases. They are probably the same two (Cohen & Campbell) who tired to fund officers on the street and save the expense of overtime for the same work. No support from Smith & Shields for that - no surprise.
Jim-beau has got to GO!
Overtime in almost all cases is unavoidable when we are talking about emergency personel. It can be lowered but not eliminated. It can be managed better , I agree.
Let's see. If they took $5,000 and used it to bid out the city;s insurance lines they could probably save enought to un-furlough public safety officers and do most of what's on the Mayor's list. Louise, Shanie, mayor - are you listening?
Read the Charter. You don't have veto power on the budget. Remember, Jim. You even said so when Barrie was Mayor.
Save it for a rainy day.
If Salisbury was serious about raising some cash, they'd standardized parking regulations so that signage and markings are consistent throughout the city, raise the fines, and get their police officers to start getting their asses out of the car - besides when they congregate at eating establishments that offer police discounts - and start writing tickets. People park in fire lanes and handicap zones in Salisbury and the county at large with impunity.
Since when does the council meet with the mayor after they already vote on the budget? Maybe these are all worthy but Campbell and Cohen are right. Do the public safety people first.
Could had those things if he hadn't made raises for a select few more important.
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