Middletown council set to vote on budget cuts

By Andy Sedlak, Staff Writer 9:00 PM Monday, November 28, 2011

    MIDDLETOWN — On Tuesday, City Council will vote on a proposed 2012 budget that calls for broad reductions to public safety and will provide financial direction to — among others — the Middletown Health Department, Weatherwax Golf Course and Robert “Sonny” Hill Community Center.
    The budget proposal was constructed to adhere to state-level funding cuts. A Journal’s analysis of Middletown’s general fund data concluded the city’s estimated drop-off of $1.6 million between 2011 and 2012 is the second-largest decline between two years in the past decade.
    The proposal includes roughly $3.7 million in cuts to the city’s budget. Public safety, more than 70 percent of the budget, received the brunt of the cuts.

Here’s how the reductions break down:
    • $1.1 million in non-public safety cuts
    • $2.6 million in public safety cuts, including $1.4 million for police and $1.2 million for fire
“Had it not been for the cuts at the state level, our budget would have grown rather than reduced,” said City Manager Judy Gilleland.
    That scenario was eliminated once the $3.2 million in state cuts was combined with the city’s growing deficit.
   
Division of Fire
    In reducing its budget from about $9.7 million to $9 million, nine firefighter positions would be lost and Station 84 on Tytus Avenue could close.
    “The method in which fire service may be provided is still being discussed,” Gilleland said, adding final decisions will be made once the budget is passed.
    Jon Harvey, president of Middletown Firefighters Local 336, said training will continue to diminish along with the time to maintain equipment.
    “When I first came on 16 years ago, you did a lot of work and you did a lot of runs,” he said. “We’re at the point now where all we can do is make runs ... we see our equipment breaking down a lot more.”

Division of Police
    The police department’s budget of about $12 million will increase by 0.1 percent next year largely because of grant money. More specifically, one federal grant awarded to the department in September will preserve four police jobs for at least three years.
    There are about $1.4 million in cuts proposed for the department and reductions in staff include four patrol officers, a humane officer and dispatcher.
    “We’re taking away some of the specialty positions and reassigning them to the street,” said police Chief David VanArsdale. Specialty positions include special operations and general assignment detectives.

Weatherwax Golf Course
    Debate swirled around Weatherwax Golf Course’s budget next year. Council members debated selling, maintaining or closing the course.
    Under tonight’s proposal, Weatherwax’s budget grows by about $24,000 to $1.6 million in 2012.
    Most of the additional money, according to Finance Director Russ Carolus, is $50,000 that has been allocated for golf-related capital expenditures.
    There is still about $1 million left to be paid on a renovation project stemming back to the mid-1990s. Officials have said leaving the course open to generate some additional revenue will aid in offsetting those losses.
    Mayor Larry Mulligan said Weatherwax’s future will continue to be questioned if the financial status of the city does not improve.

The Robert “Sonny” Hill Community Center
    The community center’s original allotment was $162,321 next year but council members voted on Nov. 1 to take about $25,000 from Weatherwax’s budget for the center’s benefit. It’s total budget is now $187,436.
    The actual money spent for the community center was $186,511 in 2010.

Health Department
    The health fund budget is $680,470 in 2012, according to Carolus.
    The general fund planned subsidy for 2012 is $115,000 — $50,000 less than in 2011 — with the rest of the money coming from fees and state grants.

Roads and Infrastructure
    About $2 million has been earmarked to go toward road improvements next year, Carolus said. Last year, mostly through grant money, more than $5 million was spent on roads.

Contact this reporter at 
(513) 705-2871 or Andrew
.Sedlak@coxinc.com.

Big Section 8 Meeting on Nov. 30 at the Middletown Community Center. Landlords and tenents are not happy with Mr. Adkins or Nelson & Assoc.
Mr. Adkins is going to address all the problems and changes that the City is going to make in this program.  

Of course, there is a city council meeting this Tuesday.  (Usually there is NOT a third meeting in the month.)

Nothing is scheduled except for the second reading, and the votes, on several resolutions and ordinances that have been previously discussed.  Of course we never know when they may try to slip something by us, or even substantially change one of the previously “read” items, yet still call it the “second reading” and pass it without the proper number of votes required for an “emergency” to still have it take effect before the end of the year.

I feel certain that the new council members-elect will be in attendance to keep an eye on them to make sure that they don’t put anything over on us taxpayers!!!