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Will city budget include tax cut?
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Mayor's budget highlights
Spend $484.8 million (compared to $476.6 million last year) on city government operations for the next fiscal year.
Cut taxes by $18 million, saving the average household $70 per year.
Spend $11.4 million on new programs including:
$1.2 million for recruitment and retention of police officers
$1.6 million to purchase a police helicopter that would be shared with Bernalillo County
$300,000 for methamphetamine treatment
$1.4 million to expand Rapid Ride service up Coors
$600,000 to help establish a family advocacy center
$2.5 million for recycling carts
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The fate of Mayor Martin Chavez's plan for spending $484 million in tax revenue should be clearer by Thursday, when the City Council takes up the annual operating budget and makes whatever changes it sees fit.
A gross receipts tax cut of one-eighth of 1 cent, funding for the Metropolitan Detention Center and a host of other smaller programs are on the table, which could get messy as the council and mayor battle over priorities.
The council must pass a budget before the new fiscal year starts July 1.
Neither side, meanwhile, is saying much ahead of the meeting.
"No comment yet," said Councilor Don Harris, the chairman of the council's special committee that deals with budget issues. "There's some negotiations going on, but we're not ready to launch anything."
Look for news on that front soon, he said, possibly as early as today.
Just how much support the tax cut holds on the council isn't clear, yet. Some, such as Councilor Brad Winter, have come out in favor. Others, like Councilor Isaac Benton, are against.
Complicating matters is the question of subsidizing the county jail. Six members of the council support a proposed $9.2 million grant to the county - a plan Chavez opposes.
That means councilors will have to either whack the tax cut or find something else to raid if they want to keep their end of the deal struck with Bernalillo County.
Chavez said Tuesday he would veto any budget that didn't include a tax cut or did include jail funding. But if councilors can muster six votes - and they already have for a nonbinding resolution on the jail - they can override his vetoes.
The mayor is also pushing about $11 million worth of new initiatives, including an expansion of library hours, new recycling carts, expanding Rapid Ride bus service and $300,000 for a new methamphetamine treatment initiative.
The fate of those proposals is also unclear.
Overall, the mayor's budget is an increase over the current year, though some city departments are seeing cuts. The Chief Administrative Officer Department, for instance, is shrinking by 20 percent, or $794,000.
But Bruce Perlman, the chief administrative officer, said that a few positions are being transferred to other departments.
"It's not really a cut in the program. It's just moving some stuff around," he said.
