Posted on: Monday, February 16, 2004

EDITORIAL
Budget begins with Harris, not council

A certain amount of posturing has emerged in the give-and-take between the City Council and Mayor Jeremy Harris over the upcoming city budget.

After years of holding the line on property taxes, Harris warns this year may see some increases, at least for commercial properties. He won't even rule out an increase in residential property taxes.

The council, meanwhile, has prepared a letter pre-emptively announcing it won't support a residential property tax hike. In an election year, that's understandable, but somewhat premature since its members have not yet decided what the budget will look like.

And in fact, simply by leaving rates where they are, the city would enjoy a substantial boost in collections because values have been soaring.

The council has also ordered Harris not to put any new park or beautification projects into his budget. This is the outgrowth of the council's legitimate concern that the city barely has enough money for basic needs and should not be committing to new and expensive "frills."

But Harris correctly points out that the resolution is out of place. It is his job to come up with a budget for council review. If, in the judgment of his administration, more parks are needed, he is obligated to include such ideas along with a way to pay for them.

The council is free to accept, modify or reject what Harris submits. But it should not be in the business of pre-emptively helping Harris write the budget in the first place.