During the Joe Ganim mayoral years (November 1991 to April 2003) the city’s fund balance, or financial reserve, grew to more than $50 million that represented the city’s relatively sturdy financial position that included 10 straight years without a tax increase. In the last 10 years the fund balance has been raided on several occasions [...]
Entries Tagged as 'Tom Sherwood'
Searching For Light In Sherwood’s Budget Forest–Can A Tax Hit Be Avoided?
April 29th, 2013 · 16 Comments · Analysis and Comment, City Budget, City Council
General Lee Covers Budget Session
April 4th, 2013 · 2 Comments · Analysis and Comment, City Budget, News and Events
City fiscal watchdog John Marshall Lee Wednesday night attended the first session of the City Council’s Budget and Appropriations Committee as the city’s legislative body began review of Mayor Bill Finch’s budget proposal for the spending year starting July 1. He files this report: Last evening some members of the City Council met in the [...]
Tags: Andy Nunn·Anne Kelly-Lenz·Bill Finch·John Marshall Lee·Tom Sherwood
He’s Baaack! Financial Watchdog Returns–Good Gravy, An Avalanche Of Financial Reports
July 18th, 2012 · 4 Comments · Analysis and Comment, City Budget, City Council
City budget examiner John Marshall Lee, the resident stick in the eye to city bean counters, is back from vacation in Ireland. (Some pols wish he’d take up permanent residence there.) For a good year now he’s been on a harangue about the lack of city financial reports. Well, it seems he’s got his wish. [...]
Ghostbusters Beware–There’s Ectoplasm In The Budget
May 15th, 2012 · 5 Comments · Analysis and Comment, City Budget, City Council
Ectoplasm? Leave it to the indomitable budget busters from BOB (Budget Oversight Bridgeport) to conduct a séance over the city budget. In their latest commentary about the magic that is the city budget, John Marshall Lee and Andy Fardy try to shake out the meaning of ghost positions. As for the meaning of “ectoplasm” you’re [...]
‘A Couple Of Loose Ends I’d Like To Tie Up’–Budget Question For Council Members, Defunded Or Eliminated?
May 12th, 2012 · 3 Comments · Analysis and Comment, City Budget, City Council
When it comes to the City Council, those budget interrogators John Marshall Lee and Andy Fardy are like Lieutenant Colombo coming back for more. In their capacity as charter members of Budget Oversight Bridgeport (BOB) General Lee and his gumshoe budget lieutenant Fardy needle council members about city spending practices. The city’s budget book can [...]
Vallas At Budget Hearing Urges $7 Million More For Schools–Others Demand Cuts
April 27th, 2012 · 15 Comments · Analysis and Comment, City Budget, City Council, Education
Facing a relatively tame audience of education advocates seeking more school aid and taxpayers exhorting budget cuts, the City Council’s Budget and Appropriations Committee Thursday night heard from about one dozen speakers addressing Mayor Bill Finch’s proposed spending plan that calls for a 2.7 mil increase to finance $7 million more in additional school spending and [...]
Tags: Andy Fardy·Bill Finch·Jacqueline Kelleher·John Gomes·John Marshall Lee·Leticia Colon·Lydia Martinez·Mark Trojanowski·Michelle Lyons·Pat Fardy·Paul Vallas·Sacred Heart University·Tom Sherwood
Budget Battle–Is There An Appetite To Cut? If So, What?
May 9th, 2013 · 15 Comments · Analysis and Comment, City Budget, City Council, Cops, Education
The City Council’s Budget and Appropriations Committee is examining each department budget for potential cuts as the days wind down to vote on Mayor Bill Finch’s $520 million spending plan that calls for a $400 tax increase for the average homeowner. Wednesday night council members debated a haircut for the mayor’s budget but moved on at [...]
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Tags: Bill Finch·CT Post·Tom McCarthy·Tom Sherwood