Editor,
The upcoming Yonkers City Budget promises to be a most challenging process for the city council with a budget gap estimated to be over $ 100 million dollars. We are assured that the taxpayers are going to be a large part of the solution to balancing an $880 million budget through tax increases and/or service reductions.
The city administration provides the council most of its budget information, leaving the council with very few tools of its own to delve through the volumes of information that it must review prior to a budget vote. In the case of the school budget which is melded into the entire city budget the council rarely interfaces with the school administration over budget matters. Both instances place the City Council at a distinct disadvantage when it comes to performing the single most important duty that they are chartered to perform. That is to provide a budget for operating our city and proper funding for our schools.
With an extremely difficult economy another set(s) of eyes is necessary to assist the council in the budget process. The council should have on its permanent staff full time budget analyst personnel that can thoroughly review and analyze the proposed budget, monitor city revenue/ spending through out the fiscal year and update the council on spending changes (like overtime budget explosions) that are occurring.
Budget analysis is as important to the taxpayers as council staffers designated to promote constituent services. After all, without professional modern budgeting practices there may not be any constituent services to promote.
Sincerely,
Theodore J. Winnicki
Yonkers, N.Y. 10701
