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Health & Fitness

City Playing Game With Budget

Budget game packed with many false or misleading choices.

As reported on the website, Mayor Rawlings-Blake is asking citizens to have a hand at balancing the 2013 city budget.  Residents can visit a website that lets them make often tough decisions on how raise and spend tax payer money.  (We aren't told how much it cost to set up this website, by the way.)

Being a big fan of Sim City, a computer game that allows the player to act as mayor and build a city and manage its finances, I was willing to give a real city budget a go.

What I discovered is that we are offered many false or misleading choices.  For example, we are told that reducing the property tax rate by two cents per $100 will tack an on additional $7 million to the budget.  But what we don't know is how many more potential property tax paying residents a reduction in property taxes may attract to our city.  Is there an off-set?  We aren't told. 

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Another example is that we are told that by reducing  boarding and cleaning of vacant and abandoned properties the city will save $1 million.  But what we aren't told is how many of these buildings would generate property taxes if the city gave them away to people who promise to live in them for 10 years or more.  Why should we be paying anything for the maintenance of vacant and abandoned properties in a city starving for property tax payers?

The list goes on.  But, I did play the game under the rules offered by the mayor.  I came up with a $2 million dollar surplus, while cutting property taxes by the only available choice of two cents per $100.  Here is how I did it:

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Spending Cuts

1. Increase co-pays and deductibles in retiree health insurance and prescription drug plans, bringing them more in line with neighboring counties.  $6m
 
Pause 2. Increase the portion of health insurance premiums paid by employees from 10–20% to 20–30%, depending on the plan they choose.  $7m
 
Pause 3. Freeze pay for all but the lowest paid employees in Fiscal Year (FY) 2013. Pay was frozen for all employees in FY 2011. In FY 2012, all but the highest paid employees received a 2% cost-of-living increase.  $9m
 
Pause 4. Continue the current furlough plan, which requires employees to take between two and five unpaid days off, depending on their salary.  $8.5m
 
Pause 5. Charge employees a premium cost for vision & dental care.  $2m

Public Safety

7. Eliminate the Police marine unit and rely on the Fire Department, State DNR and US Coast Guard to respond to emergencies on the water.  $1m 

Pause 9. Permanently close the five least busy fire companies. The City is already operating rotating closures of three companies, down from 4 in FY 2010. Permanent closures could be made so as to minimize the impact on response times, but response times would suffer.  $4m

Arts & Learning

11. Close the five least busy libraries and reduce hours at other branches. There are currently 22 library locations, so shutting down 5 will reduce access in the affected neighborhoods. Discontinuing services at lower-use locations permits the City to maintain better hours at other locations and buy books and materials for the smaller network.  $5m
 
12. Reduce or eliminate grants to the City’s art museums and symphony orchestra, requiring them to charge (more) for services, raise more outside funds, or cut back the programs they offer.  $2.5m


Public Works & Transportation

14. Eliminate business district cleaning outside of downtown and rely on merchants associations to pay for the services.  $1.5m
 
Pause 15. Reduce boarding and cleaning of vacant and abandoned properties. Vacant properties become locations for pests and transient populations if left unclean and unattended, affecting nearby properties. They can also become locations for illegal dumping.  $1m 

Parks & Recreation

19. Close neighborhood swimming pools and operate only the six large park pools. In Fiscal Year 2011, 60,000 City residents used these facilities, or about 10% of the population. The park pools have much higher use rates than the neighborhood pools.  $1m

Other City Services

22. Reduce 311 call center hours. Call Centers currently operate 16 hours a day. The new schedule would be ten hours a day Monday thru Friday and eight hours a day on the weekends, with the 311 service also offered online.  $500k

25. Discontinue support for programs to nurture small and emerging businesses.  $1m
 
26. Cut agency administrative budgets by 10%. This would impact fiscal, human resources, information technology and other functions that support front-line services.  $4m 

27. Reduce funding for the conduct of elections. Doing so will likely reduce polling sites and lead to longer lines during elections.  $1m

Revenue Measures/Enhancements

29. Introduce a tax on billboards. There is currently no tax on billboard advertising in the City.  $1m

31. Charge $1 to ride the Charm City Circulator bus, which is currently free. The Charm City Circulator provides free access to downtown and certain neighborhoods for tourists and City residents.  $1m

34. Suspend acceptance of new applications for property tax credits for newly constructed rehabilitated dwelling units, historic preservation & enterprise zones. Existing credits would continue to be honored.  $2.5m

35. Allow for the selling of private sponsorships and advertisements at public buildings and parks.  $1.5m

Spending Increases

43. Reduce the property tax rate by two cents per $100.  $7m

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