By John Fredericks / STAFF

Spending money you don’t have. Everybody’s doing it. Why not Roswell?

In a contentious meeting that featured several sharp exchanges and much political gamesmanship, Roswell City Council passed its 2009-2010 budget on Monday with a record deficit of at least $1.1 million.

The shortfall will come from Roswell’s reserves – best known as the “rainy-day fund.”

Finance and Administration liaison Councilman Kent Igleheart sponsored nearly enough cuts to balance the budget – about $1.3 million in total – but only $300,000 of his reductions passed, leaving the final budget in the red.

The new budget passed 4-3. Igleheart and council members Rich Dippolito and Lori Henry voted against passage, while councilmen David Tolleson, Jerry Orlans and Councilwoman Becky Wynn cast their lot for it. Mayor Jere Wood broke the deadlock, voting “yes.”

NO TO FURLOUGHS

Igleheart’s three biggest proposed cuts that would have brought the spending in line with projected revenues all failed, with the same voting alignment as the total budget vote. Igleheart served up an $80,000 cut in the city’s training and travel budget, which would still have left city workers with $240,000 to spend in that category. But Wynn said it might jeopardize some city employees’ opportunity to participate in networking conferences, and isolate them from Internet interaction with other city bureaucrats across the country.

The biggest proposed cut to be squashed was an amendment to furlough all non-essential service employees one day per month and to eliminate some overtime for the same group. This reduction, which included elected officials, would have saved the City about $900,000 annually. 

In voting for the furlough plan, Henry said, “We are in very difficult times. We are not asking our employees to do anything not being done in the private sector.”

But Tolleson said he didn’t want to see employees lose a day’s pay a month, and again reiterated that it was best to raid the reserve fund. “We have multi-millions of taxpayer dollars in our rainy day fund,” Tolleson said. “That is what it is for.”

Roswell’s reserve fund will stand at just over $23 million next year if all goes according to plan. $15 million of that is allocated for the City’s emergency 90-day operating fund.

Wynn said furloughs could negatively affect Roswell resident’s quality of life. Henry fired back later. “We have a multitude of government holidays where the city’s non-essential services are shut down and city hall is closed. Does that really ruin peoples lives in Roswell?”

Wood again broke the tie. “I proudly and happily vote against this,” he said.

The amended budget, including all expenditures, totals $108.27 million.

ORLANS OFFERS AMMENDMENT TO STOP PAYING ELECTED OFFICIALS

In a symbolic gesture to "put our skin in the game" Orlans offered up an amendment to stop paying all elected officials for the balance of 2009, which would have saved the city about $70,000. This time Wood broke the tie in favor of keeping all of council and himself on the payroll. "My vote against this was consistent with my position from the beginning of this process," Wood said after the meeting. "I don’t favor any furloughs, firings, layoffs or cuts for city employees."

But Henry questioned Orlans intent. "His proposal defied logic," Henry said. "He just voted against the furlough plan, that included us, which could have balanced the budget. This was a political ploy of the worst kind," she added.

Asked after the meeting if he would agree to voluntary give up his salary for the balance of 2009, Orlans answered, "no." He said it should be all or none. "That was our point in the first place," Henry said.

Wynn, who supported the council pay cut along with Tolleson, went on record to say it was not meant to "grandstand." But Wynn did not voluntary offer up her council salary, either.


FISCAL CONSERVATIVES STAND UP

Dippolito, in voting against the budget, warned against spending money in a recession the city doesn’t have. “We should pass a true balanced budget, and find the cuts we need. We failed to do that, and that is why I am voting against this budget,” Dippolito said.

Igleheart said the reserves are meant for emergency capital expenditures, not operating deficits. "This is not sound fiscal policy," he asserted. "We may find ourselves not being able to fix potholes or repave roads in two years if this continues." 

Igleheart warned that the revenue projections could be upwards of $1 million short. “Every government entity in metro Atlanta has come up short in its revenue forecasts,” Igleheart said. “If this trend holds, we can find ourselves another $1 million in the hole, further depleting our reserve fund,” he predicted. “Then what?”