A Message from Ann Margolin
August 1, 2009
You certainly know by now that the City of Dallas is facing a very difficult budget year.
I believe that, as leaders, council members must be out front in reducing our own budgets. There is some real resistance to this.
Learn more:
Each Council member is assigned an assistant and a secretary. I have agreed to share a secretary and cut my office and travel budget by 25%.
My biggest single expense is mailing for town hall meetings so I want to work toward more email communication.
I am also advocating reducing our annual council bill for printing agendas which costs about $140,000 and reducing or eliminating our catered meals which now run $32000.
I am working on specific proposals to take to the Council that I think they will find acceptable.
Here are some of the larger items causing the 2009-10 budget deficit:
- Property taxes down $30 million
- Sales taxes down about $24 million
- Other revenue (red light camera fines, landfill fees, interest earnings, various fees and fines) down $28 million.
- Debt service on the 2006 bonds is kicking in at $30 million
- A full year of the 200 new police officers is $18 million
My Priorities
I remain committed to maintaining our focus on reducing crime which is down 15%. While this is a great achievement we are still a high-crime city, particularly in certain pockets.
We have unacceptable rates of property crime in the northwest part of District 13 and I am working with police to put attention on the Webb Chapel area. We are currently budgeting for 141 new officers.
I am also committed to maintaining code enforcement as a top priority and protecting programs for our most vulnerable seniors.
On Aug. 10 the City Manager will present the Council with a balanced budget. We then have about a month to make adjustments before it is passed. The original deficit was $190 million and is down to about $20 million due to cuts and consolidations.
It includes consolidation or elimination of nine departments reducing from 32 to 23; demoting nine directors; eliminating or demoting 11 assistant directors. We are looking at major cuts in virtually every city service.
This includes streets, parks, libraries, recreation centers and the arts. Responses to calls about potholes or graffiti may take longer than in the past. The city may not look quite as good.
Let's all come together during this time to keep our streets and parks looking good. We can get our neighborhood associations, crime watch groups, scout troops and other community or church organizations to adopt a park or a stretch of median.
Let's make this a time for building our communities and getting people involved.
I will be hosting a town hall meeting on the budget on Sept. 1 at 7 p.m. at the Walnut Hill Recreation Center.
I hope you will come.
Warmest regards,
Ann
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