The Budget Wants You (To Pay More Taxes)

By: Mr. Wilson on July 11, 2011
7 comments
We all knew this was coming and now it's official: Mayor Beutler is asking for a 2.8 cent property tax levy increase to help cover the city's $9.3 million budget gap. The property tax increase joins this list of cuts (my comments appear in brackets):
  • The reorganization of Library staff, the closure of all libraries for one-half day and reduced Sunday hours. [Unfortunate, but not a death sentence.]
  • The reduction of StarTran Saturday hours from 12 to eight. [As if StarTran weren't already irrelevant. Now folks can't even get both to and from work for an 8-5 job! I'm an idiot, see below.]
  • The end of Aging's Retired Senior Volunteer Program. [Hopefully this gap can be filled somehow.]
  • A reduction in the City match to the Lincoln Partnership for Economic Development. [Psh, Lincoln doesn't need economic development.]
  • A reduction in the Healthy Homes Minority Outreach program. [I ... I don't know anything about this program.]
  • The elimination of Police response to non-emergencies. [This was clearly a "nice-to-have". It'd be nice to have it back, but now isn't the time.]
  • The closure of Air Park Fire Station as part of an overall station relocation effort. [I read that this station averages one call per day. Why was this reorganization not done long ago?]
  • The loss of one Forestry position. [I'm still not convinced whether this is a good or bad idea.]
  • The elimination of winter hours at the Pioneers Park Nature Center. [Not good, but at least it's just winter hours.]
  • A cut to Public Works and Utilities General Fund. [Look for your utility bills to increase as a result.]
  • The reorganization of public safety and the Finance Department. [Reorganizations always worry me. Sometimes they result in savings, and sometimes not. Think LFD becoming LFR.]
All in all the cuts are more or less tolerable, as is the property tax increase. Anti-tax folks will be up in arms over the increase. To them I say: put up or shut up. That is, show us a plan that'll eliminate the tax increase and sustain Lincoln's quality of life. I hate taxes as much as anybody, but I'm out of ideas. I'd rather pay my extra $3.50 per month than sacrifice more local programs and services. Fair enough if you disagree, I suppose. But honestly, if you do have reasonable ideas for eliminating the property tax increase, you should have been speaking up for the past few years. It's a bit late now. Better late than never, I guess. Before I close I need to point at the StarTran cut one more time. StarTran is already hamstrung by many problems. And now we're going to completely eliminate the 8-to-5 crowd from the already short list of riders? Even many K-12 students are going to be SOL if they're involved in any before- or after-school activities. We may as well eliminate the service altogether! I'm eager to see how StarTran proposes to deal with this. I'm an idiot. I missed the word "Saturday". Do you know how many times I've looked over this list of cuts, both in the City's press release and in the LJS? And would you believe that not once did my brain process the word "Saturday". Yeesh. My son starts kindergarten this fall; I may join him for the parts on reading comprehension. What say you, fair Lincolnites? Is this budget the best we can do?

Comments

See what your friends and neighbors have to say about this.

George
July 11, 2011 at 3:14PM

I am sure that most aren’t going to care about Star Tran.  For our family though, it’s a big deal.  We have successfully been a 1 car family for almost 6 years.  We don’t “need” a 2nd car.  My husband takes the bus to and from work and it’s worked out fine.  With these changes, unless they are taking those 4 hours out of the middle of the day (which seems silly) there is no way we can rely on the buses and we will forced to get a car we neither want nor can we afford.  I’m going to guess that the majority of those who take the bus are in the same boat as us..

George
July 11, 2011 at 3:26PM

Okay, I didn’t read it right.  The cut is only on Saturdays.  That won’t affect most 8-5 riders or school.

Mr. Wilson
July 11, 2011 at 4:12PM

I missed the word “Saturday” entirely. I’m an idiot. I updated the post to acknowledge my idiocy.

peter
July 11, 2011 at 4:17PM

Even though it’s just Saturday, there are lots of people who must work Saturdays, most I would guess in lower paying jobs, like retail and food service.

Instead of cutting hours, they should cut routes.  Concentrate on O St, 27th, the malls, etc. and cut the less used routes.

Mr. T
July 12, 2011 at 2:17AM

In my mind, several of the services to be cut in the proposed budget are not acceptable: 1) the further reductions in library hours, 2) the reduction in Saturday hours for Star Tran, and 3) the end of the Senior Volunteer program. The rest I can easily part with.

Gene
July 12, 2011 at 3:32PM

I would agree. I’ll admit that these particular cuts ruffle some of my ideological feathers.

Errandbug Restaurant Delivery
July 14, 2011 at 5:25AM

I have a little thing to say about that.  I am personally for closing all the libraries except for the two newest.  How many of you have been to a library in the last decade?  I have…they are ghost towns 99% of the time.  Hours are already cut back so severely that it makes it hard to go there if you have a normal job.  Keep the two newest buildings…extend the hours so it is useful in those two.  shutter the rest. 

So say ...what about the kids?  Great point…EVERY school in town has a library.  We can even donate all the extra books into the rotation at these school libraries.  Maybe these school libraries can be even open after school hours for public use. 

With electronic books and the internet…the old school library is dying and not really what it used to be.  I like reading…and so I have a nook.  Tada…one less person of millions who have electronic readers that rarely go to the library any more.  (Personally I would love the whole UNL and lincoln school systems to switch to electronic text books…HUGE savings there!) 

Point being…we hold on to these relics out of tradition rather than usefulness.  With the internet and electronic books the traditional library is almost pointless. 

Now…pools…don’t even get me started on how the city has not leveraged the advertising ability of these.

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