Mayor Joe Ganim’s $560 million proposed budget is now available for review on the city’s website here. To cherry pick items by department see here. The largest increase in the spending plan appears to be public safety where Ganim’s recommending an increase of roughly $23 million over the current fiscal year led by new police and fire personnel and pension obligations for the budget year starting July 1.
Howling will come from education advocates. Ganim’s budget essentially flat funds education proposing about $15 million less than requested by school chief Fran Rabinowitz.
This budget is not a done deal. It is now before the City Council’s Budget and Appropriations Committee that will review it, meet with department heads, conduct public hearings and make changes before it goes to the full council for a vote no later than May 10. May 24 is the last day for Ganim to veto the budget. June 7 is the last day for the council to act on Ganim’s veto. A final mil rate will be set by the council in June.
The budget is also at the mercy of the state legislature in session for another month. What happens in Hartford impacts the city budget.
Interesting that the goals for Civil Service include continuing “expansion of the non-competitive division through the systematic elimination and restructuring of the competitive division for civilian jobs.” Translation: replacing jobs requiring merit-based testing with jobs that require no testing. Another big step in the wrong direction.
Phil Smith, once again great point and once again the name of David Dunn comes up as not performing his duty by requiring merit-based testing. I know Mayor Ganim is dealing with budget but he needs to replace Dunn and do a nationwide search unless Dunn is doing Ganim’s dirty work. Time will tell (JML).
Add Personnel Director to the tests required by law but not budgeted.
Ron,
You know Ganim is in no hurry to do anything about fixing Civil Service.
And after Ralph Jacob’s term as a by-the-book Personnel Director I am sure Ganim would not like to live within those confines.
To the Charter experts. Is there a way of slowing down the charter-mandated dates for the budget? Also, some of these things such as attempting to reduce Civil Service requirements, would this not fall outside of the B&A committee? Maybe the Ordinance Committee???
The short answer is no, because the Charter deadlines are tied to the schedule required in order to prepare, mail and collect tax bills.
Frank,
You have happened upon a discussion that includes a few who know the Charter pretty well, have taken a look at the department budgets in some fashion or another (where the taxpayer can for one moment in the year see the purpose of a department, where it earns revenues (or not), how many are employed, the jobs currently in the department and vacancies, as well as certain past and future goals and system indicator trends over a decade. Lots of info. May not exactly be what you think of as B&A responsibility, but if you are voting money to a department wouldn’t you want to know what they say they do, how often and how successfully? Maybe? Time will tell.
Regarding the BOE budget. Most of you know the BOE has its own Finance Committee that approves its budget, reviews its expense reports, and is responsible for voting on direction when shortfalls are found.
Neither the City Council nor the Mayor have a direct vote on the matter, probably a matter of frustration at least and seldom is present for seeing how the BOE attempts to act responsibly on behalf of 22,000 young people in the City.
The Super’s office provided the amount of $15 Million as a single number based on their experience and projections of trends in benefits, new hires, retirements, etc. And the number is less than 6% increase to become balanced. When the BOE items are removed from Total City Operating Budget, we see $310 Million remaining. Looking at the increase of $23 Million primarily for a Police Department averaging 400 employees perhaps, but less at this time (and more when we see the Table of Organization we are not shown as it may be too old to deal with our urban conditions today?), we will find the increase G2 has allowed represents about an 8% increase to assist PD budget for 400 current, many of whom live outside Bridgeport, and their retired fellow officers, again more outside than Bridgeport residents. At the same time the Mayor will be ignoring 22,000 City youth for any portion of the school budget. It would seem the BOE gets you more bang for the buck. What think you? Time will tell.
All True., but who has his fingerprints all over giving Dennis Bradley the position of president of the school board???
As long as Civil Service has a Director who doesn’t feel autonomy to the Mayor is a mandate and a Mayor who feels the Civil Service Department isn’t autonomous to his office, then it’s a bad situation. Lennie said it in 2007 when Finch did it and how it would be used for political appointments. The only thing that has changed, Finch to JG2.
This budget is driven by Ganim’s Number One Priority: Repaying his debt to the Bridgeport Police Union. He wants to pay for the overtime costs and the increased pension costs as a result of the higher incomes from overtime. This budget will have that written in stone. If you look at Ganim’s first three months, what you see is a preoccupation with the Police Union; getting rid of Nardozzi, getting rid of Gaudett; putting AJ Perez “in Charge”; bringing out Chuck Paris at every photo op. This budget continues the payback.
351 pages! This will take time to digest.
Am I correct in seeing a B&A subcommittee meeting TOMORROW April 7, 2016 at 6pm?