Byline: Jennie Tunkieicz
Sep. 17--Racine -- Mayor Gary Becker is meeting with taxpayers across the city asking how he should spend their money. About 30 people attended the mayor's Budget Roadshow, as he's calling it, on a recent rainy Monday morning at the Belle City Senior Center. Becker has held three sessions so far. The next sessions will be at 6 p.m. Wednesday at Humble Park Community Center, 2200 Blaine Ave.; noon Sept. 26 at King Community Center, 1134 King Drive; and 6 p.m. Sept. 26 at Gethsemane Church, 3319 Washington Ave. Becker was pleased with the turnout at the senior center. When he brought his Budget Roadshow to the Chavez Community Center the previous week, only six residents came, even though the city had used the Racine Police Department's automatic call service and contacted people in three aldermanic districts about the meeting.
'I want to find out what's important to you,' Becker told the crowd at the most recent meeting. Becker directed department heads to submit budget proposals with no increase over this year. Although he expects a 2% increase, or roughly $1.5 million in tax revenue under state guidelines, he didn't want that to be spent without getting an idea of what taxpayers would like to see. Meanwhile, Becker said, health care costs continue to rise, while state shared revenue and other income to the city will remain flat. As a result, Becker said, there will have to be cuts and changes. 'If we did nothing, we would have a $3 million shortfall,' Becker said. Becker will prepare his budget proposal for the Common Council over the next few weeks. During that preparation, he said, he'll take into consideration all of the suggestions from the community meetings, along with the executive summaries prepared by each city department head. The executive summaries detail what services each department would lose under a 0% budget plan. Becker's budget will be presented to the Common Council in mid-October. At the Belle City Senior Center, it wasn't surprising that several speakers called for Becker's continued support of the center and a plea not to increase their operational costs. 'I hope you do your best for us so we can have a place to be and at an affordable rate,' Marilyn Ulrich of Racine said. Becker said he wasn't in a position to negotiate a contract on the spot with the Friends of Seniors, but he knows of no plans to end the contract or increase rental costs. The city's senior citizens had lobbied long and hard for their own home, which they got in 2004 at a cost to them of $700 a month. Friends of Seniors runs the facility, which was formerly the Lakeview Community Center, 201 Goold St., and supports the cost through memberships. Becker showed numerous charts detailing where all city money comes from and how it's spent. The most money goes to public safety, 54% of the budget, or about $43 million. Of that total, $1 million goes to dispatch, $28 million to police and $14 million to fire, he said. Several people at the meeting complained about money going to a new bike and pedestrian trail along the lake in front of the Racine Zoo. They wanted to know why the money for that wasn't directed to needed city services. Becker said 80% of the money for the trail came from state and federal grants and money could not have been spent on city services. He said half a million dollars of the cost went for stabilizing the bank, which otherwise would have crumbled into the lake. After the meeting, Becker said he wasn't hearing the same 'taxpayer revolt' that state politicians talk about in his meetings with citizens. 'I don't hear people say, 'Cut more and more services,' ' Becker said. But the Racine Taxpayers Association disagrees. 'Becker says he has about a million to spend and he wants to know how to spend it,' association President Jayne Siler said at an association meeting last week. 'Why does he have to spend it?' The association was planning to meet over the weekend to discuss a formal position on the city budget. Member Ruth Gedwardt said the city could save costs by consolidating its dispatch services with Racine County, for example. The city's labor unions also are concerned about how money will be spent in the coming year.
Scott Sharp, president of AFSCME Local 67, representing about 220 city workers, said a zero-increase budget, coupled with rising fuel, heating and electric costs, can result in only further deteriorating of city services. 'As public employees, we take pride in the quality-of-life services we provide,' Sharp said. 'The only thing left to cut is bodies, and when you cut bodies you cut services.' Over the past three years, 85 city positions were eliminated, Sharp said. Services already are being affected with things such as fewer potholes filled and roads blacktopped, leading to roadways breaking down more quickly and the need for more costly repairs, he said. He's concerned about plowing and salting during major storms, he said. 'Our concern is there needs to be an open discussion with the citizens of Racine about what level of quality-of-life services they want us to provide,' Sharp said.
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