Council committee meets on budget
Originally published 06:39 p.m., July 21, 2008
Updated 09:00 p.m., July 21, 2008
Five City Council members and Mayor Bill Bunten met with City department heads to hammer out more details for the 2009 Fiscal Year Budget. After a brief period of questions from Council members about the budget, Mayor Bunten gave a presentation on a proposed half-cent increase to the sale tax.
Calling next year's budget a "status quo budget," Bunten said it offers citizens the same government for more cost.
"We are not funding our government at the level it needs to be at," Bunten said.
Bunten said he approached the Chamber of Commerce and asked them to make a presentation to the council. One main reason Bunten said he supported the sales tax increase was to improve roads.
The estimated $13 million of revenue from the tax would also go to put more police officers on the streets of Topeka. Just last year, the Council shot down a proposal to raise the sales tax, but some Council members say this year is different.
"I think we're more in dire straights and that's concerning our roadway infrastructure and our community," said Deputy Mayor Jeff Priesner. "You know, if we don't address this somehow now presently, I think we're gonna be in trouble down the road."
A person who spends $1,000 a month on taxable items would see about a $5 per month increase. However, even if the increase is put on the ballot and approved by voters, it would still take time to see improvements in the roads.
City Manager Norton Bonaparte estimated the City would have to spend $50 million over the next 10 years to get the roads to an acceptable level.
The proposed sales tax increase would be primarily used in Downtown, North and Central Topeka. In a one-on-one interview, Deputy City Manager Randy Speaker told me the city hasn't done a good job maintaining those areas.
"The southern part of Topeka, we have treated kind of as our back door, but in fact it's one of our front doors, so we need to start treating it like that," Speaker said.
You can see that interview on Wednesday, right here on 49 News at 10.
Also at the meeting, Councilwoman Sylvia Ortiz questioned a $11,000 decrease in Parks and Recreation for their youth employment program.
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