06231986 Regular Meeting - Laserfiche WebLink

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Frills must be eliminated! All line item categories must be justified, and compared to amounts spent, not requested, in prior years budgets. While these restrictions may sound harsh, they should be instituted. We must have a lean, clean, effective budget that will provide the services we must give without harshly penalizing the beleaguered taxpayer. Even in conserving everywhere possible, we must direct the City Manager to budget adequately and properly for social services. It must be a forgone conclusion that federal funding will be greatly reduced or not forthcoming in this coming fiscal year. Therefore, the City becomes morally liable for the disadvantaged. The Social Services Commission should be requested to give all available input so that the City Manager may budget properly. Hopefully, the agencies requesting funds will have their houses in order when Council considers funding. In briefly mentioning the beleaguered taxpayer: I wonder if we have really considered the plight of the San Marcos taxpayer and why this proposed policy should be adopted. Federal, State and School Districts, and County taxes are not so slowly but surely becoming an insufferable burden. Let us prove we are responsible, concerned, and smart enough to keep from being the straw that may break the taxpayers back. The time to stop being politicians and to become effective asset managers lS now! Your recent review and study of last year's budget, which I could not vote to approve, must now reveal to you-as will future items on tonight's agenda - that a five-percent reduction is an easily attainable goaL Lets go for it! Perhaps, to show that we are dead serious, we should forego our expenses allowances next year. Right there we could take $26,600 out of the budget. I ask your acceptance. Thank you. Bill Coddington ADDITIONS: Present City Council with working papers for Council's review at budget workshops showing various colums which would contain figures from last year's budget, a budget of 5% cut from last year and the Department Head's requests. No more mid year budget adjustments. Approved by City Council of the City of San Marcos, Texas, June 23, 1986.