Shorewood's 2012 Budget - More Discussion

7/28/11

Shorewood's Council met to discuss the 2012 budget for a second time on Monday, 7/25. This time, the Mayor graced the meeting with her presence (she was absent the last time the budget was discussed).

The budget staff presented was not balanced. Expenses exceeded revenues by more than $100,000. Council discussed how to close the gap and what to do with new projects that would add more expenses and make the gap even larger.

The discussion is on-line at: http://windowsmedia.alphameetings.com/LMCCShorewood/072511shorewood.wmv Start watching at 40 minutes and 30 seconds.

Watch for the discussion on using the excess reserves to close the budget gap and to fund new programs. This excess is tax money from previous years that the City took from taxpayers, but did not spend. There is over $400,000 available to spend while still staying within the reserve policy of the City. A policy which also meets the Auditor's recommendations. However, except for Woodruff, the council members seem to want to spend this money on new items and balance the budget by raising taxes.

The most incredible statement is from Mayor Lizee starting at 56 minutes and 44 seconds where she says that spending more money for new projects and not using reserves would not be seen as a tax increase since she believes these expenditures would be for council priorities like trails. How can an increase not be an increase just because some council members decide the spending is their priority? If the City takes more money from you to pay for new trails, are you going to say, it's really not more money because it's for trails?

The South Shore Center budget discussion starts at about 57 Minutes and 20 seconds. It's fascinating to listen to Zerby and Lizee advocate for merging this separate budget into the Parks budget. Woodruff and staff point out that if this is done, there will be no way to tell if the Center is making or losing money or how much. The comments of Zerby and Lizee show they don't want anyone to know how much this costs (At 1 hour and 7 minutes, Zerby says using the word subsidy makes his hair stand on end. Is this because he can't defend subsidizing the Center?). Lizee contradicts herself in saying the financial results should be in Parks because it'll be easier to ask the other cities that own pieces of the Center for money donations to run it. This makes no sense at all. How can burying the costs make it easier to convince, for example, Greenwood to give Shorewood money to operate the Center.

Please recall, that in January Lizee, Zerby, Hotvet and Siakel voted to eliminate the Council's two-person  South Shore Center advisory committee. Now these same people want to hide the financial results in the Parks department. Who is it that ran for election on open and transparent government? Oh yes, it was Lizee, Hotvet and Siakel.

Happy Reading!
The Insider