By John Fredericks / Staff

As the final vote on Roswell’s 2009-10 budget nears, Councilman Kent Igleheart, liaison to Administration and Finance for the city, is pushing for more operational reductions in Roswell’s budget. Councilwoman Lori Henry, a newly-minted mayoral candidate, and Rich Dippolito, who oversees Community Development, share Igleheart’s overall view. However, their zeal for fiscal restraint is falling on deaf ears. Mayor Jere Wood has apparently cobbled together a council majority to resist any more reductions in Roswell’s operational expenditures. City Council members David Tolleson, Jerry Orlans and Becky Wynn have taken up Wood’s position. In the event of any 3-3 ties on specific budget cut proposals, Wood would cast the deciding votes, so his budget plan is likely to carry the day.

BUDGET BUSTERS

Roswell’s city budget actually ballooned by $2.2 million last Monday as council members rescued much needed capital improvement projects that had previously been cut by Wood. In mostly unanimous votes, Roswell’s council added five initiatives and eliminated one vacant position. Igleheart promised to propose more reductions later.

Reinstated projects included financial management software ($500,000), a new fire engine ($437,000); and intersection improvements at Grimes Bridge Rd., Warsaw Rd. and Norcross St. ($890,000); and at Holcomb Bridge Rd. and Alpharetta Highway ($444,865).

But Igleheart termed the mayor’s cuts “cynical” and “politically motivated” saying they made no sense. “He cut out critical capital expenditures like road improvements and a fire engine that affect quality of life and citizen safety. Wood knew we would put those back in the budget so he could then say, ‘this council increased the spending, not me.’ It’s a [crass] attempt at political gamesmanship in an election year – not a serious leadership approach to construct a responsible budget for the city,” Igleheart said.

SHOW ME THE GDOT MONEY

Igleheart and Henry voted against allocating money to the Holcomb Bridge intersection because they claimed it’s a joint venture with GDOT and the city would have to commit its share of the cash outlay before Roswell actually determines if they would in fact receive any federal stimulus dollars to complete the work. They lost the argument 4-2.

Igleheart defended their “no” vote by lambasting Roswell’s Capital Improvement Program (CIP) as unrealistic. “It lays out what we are going to spend our capital dollars on for the next five years. But it’s not rooted in reality. We don’t have that money, so to say we’re going to spend it when we don’t have it makes no economic sense,” he said.

“We start six transportation projects that will cost us $1 million to get started, and it might cost $30 million to finish them. So why are we spending the money now when we don’t have the money to complete them? This is not fiscally responsible,” Igleheart reiterated.

CITY’S RESERVES DEPLETING

Roswell’s general fund expenditures now stand at $63.6 million, with the additional cash being withdrawn from Roswell’s “rainy day fund” reserves.  The current budget plan bilks $5.6 million of the city’s reserves – nearly 20 percent of the entire fund – while leaving $26 million in the bank. Roswell’s policy is to leave three months operating capital untouched, which equates to $15 million. That leaves only $11 million for anything else.

“This rainy day fund has been spent ten times over,” said Henry. “We need to tighten our belts now and find more savings to allow for what may be a protracted downturn. In a recession, you have to cut costs, not just dip into savings. Wood and Tolleson’s approach is a potential prescription for future financial disaster.”

Tolleson has been a proponent of using the reserve fund, saying several weeks ago that it is “a rainy day, that is what it is for.”

But Igleheart decried that as well, and responded, “That is true only after you have rained out all possible efficiencies and savings, which has not been done.”

IGLEHEART’S BUDGET FRUSTRATION

“I have a number of criticisms concerning this budget, but what I want to make clear is that the city staff has done a good job overall. They’ve worked hard to try to find cuts within the parameters they were given. They have cut about $5 million out of operating costs from what was approved last year. I’m troubled, however, that the parameters they were given still don’t contemplate our current economic situation and the likelihood that revenue projections for the coming fiscal year will not materialize, like they didn’t this past year,” Igleheart asserted.

“It’s a fact that revenues lag behind economic recovery, so even if we have hit the bottom of the economy, we still haven’t hit the bottom of the revenue loss. I believe we could face up to $1 million in revenue loss in this budget cycle from current forecasts, much like what Fulton County and the State of Georgia have recently experienced,” Igleheart added.

Igleheart’s concerns stem from what he calls a penchant to “spend money we’re not sure we’ll have” in lieu of really “digging for more cost reductions.”

ROSWELL WORKERS: JOBS FOR LIFE

“The mayor said from the beginning we will have no job cuts, no furloughs, and no reductions in anything relating to employees. The reality is our residents and businesses that are paying the taxes to support this city are suffering with their own revenue declines and many have been forced to reduce spending as a result.” Igleheart said everything should be on the table and open to authentic debate.

“This whole process is just a game to Wood,” Igleheart said. “It’s everything or nothing. If we cut anything, he says we’re going to have to slash staff and slash quality of life – that’s not true. We can take a little bit here, a little bit there, and make a difference across the board. But his approach is that it’s all or nothing. It’s [disingenuous].”