Who would have thought we'd be nostalgic for the days when budget balancing simply meant tightening our belts and trimming the fat.
And who remembers when no one from the public would show up for the annual budget hearings, and the budget would pass without much public input.
Well, the fat is gone, and budget hearings now draw a crowd.
Particularly in Beloit, where residents have been vocal about the proposed 2012 operating budget. It's a budget that will require tough choices between public safety or nearly every other service the city provides, and public input will play an important role in how those competing interests are resolved.
City Manager Larry Arft presented the budget to the city council Monday, and laid out a plan to fill a nearly $2.5 million hole. In his letter to the council outlining the budget, Arft notes that the state's budget repair bill significantly reduces funding to the city and limits the city's ability to raise taxes. Add to that, sharp increases in costs in everything from health insurance to fuel and the squeeze is on.
The "tools" the state provides local municipalities, however, don't make up the difference, because police and firefighters were exempt from the mandated public employee pension increases.
Officials are planning to cover the shortfall by spreading the cuts evenly throughout each department. But for fire and police, additional cuts are being considered to make up for the lack of additional pension contributions. Most departments are being asked to absorb a 5.5 percent cut.
But according to the budget presented Monday, "Because the police and fire departments did not receive the savings from employee pension contributions, their percentage of the allocation was 6.3 percent from the police department and 6.8 percent of the fire department, resulting in a need to make deeper budget reductions." Is this approach the best way to balance the budget? That's where resident feedback will be critically important.
(Poll:
Should Beloit go forward with its plans for cuts and layoffs in public safety to preserve other city services? VOTE.) Keep in mind that fewer cuts in police and fire mean greater cuts elsewhere.
According to Arft's budget summary, "An effort to have made all of the necessary budget cuts from the remaining departments of the general fund would have required deep cuts in staffing, the closure of facilities and possibly the elimination of some services that are provided to those other departments and divisions." The cuts include six police officers and six firefighters.
If last month's public safety budget workshop in City Hall's Forum was any indication, residents and public safety officials have plenty of opinions about where the city should go.
At the hearing, Lt. Scott Smith, representing the International Fire Fighters Association No. 583, cautioned that small fires will become big fires and big fires will become vacant lots.
Police Chief Norm Jacobs said that he won't sacrifice the safety of his officers, but services like parade crowd control, funeral procession assistance and high school football games may see a decrease.
It will be a while yet before the budget is finalized, but the options are both clear and stark.
Input from residents will be a key ingredient in how the issue is resolved. Two public workshops are planned from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. for Monday, Oct. 10 and Monday, Oct. 17.
Two more workshops are being considered for Oct. 24 and 25.
The formal public hearing will take place at City Council's Oct. 17 meeting with a final vote by the council Nov. 7.
