March 7, 2005
On Monday, City Manager Gary O'Connell presented the city budget for the 2005-2006 fiscal year.
Before the unveiling, city councilors expressed some of their budget goals. Vice Mayor Kevin Lynch proposed a property tax deferment for those 65 and older.
In addition, he also proposed changing how cars are assessed which would generate $500,000 more in revenue.
Councilors also expressed the desire to spend less on incarceration and more on education, which has not been the case previously.
"Every kid that leaves school in the ninth grade are at great risk of falling into the criminal justice system and that's just not very productive for a person to live their life, and not very productive for us as a community," said Lynch.
Councilors agreed many changes will be made to the budget before it is approved, but said this draft is an excellent place to start.
