Proposed City Budget Cuts Spending

Over criticisms about the availability of some budget documents, Hyattsville Mayor Marc Tartaro unveiled a proposed budget which cuts city spending. 

proposed budget, released earlier this week, lays out $15.8 million budget expenditures and transfers for the next fiscal year. That's a 1.4 percent reduction over the $16.05 million 2012 budget approved by council. If weighed against projected final budget expenditures for fiscal year 2012, estimated to come in about $265,000 more than anticipated, the mayor's budget will decrease city expenditures by 3.1 percent against the current year. 

Much of those savings come from a projected 57 percent cut in revenue transfers.

Also facing steep cuts are the city's code compliance office, which is facing a proposed $102,010, 22 percent budget cut, down from an anticipated $456,960 2012 budget. 

Certain offices within the city's face cuts as well. The city's building and ground maintenance operations face a proposed $91,545, 13 percent cut to its anticipated 2012 budget expenditure. The street operations fund faces a $50,040, 4.4 percent cut to its anticipated 2012 budget expenditure.

However, the Public Works administrative efforts could see a $204,865, 83 percent increase in its budget next year. Currently, the Public Works Administration line-item is budgeted for an anticipated $246,455 this year. Tartaro's budget would increase that to $451,320 next year. 

Another big winner in Tartaro's budget are the city's Information Technology Department, which could receive a $148,630, 87 percent budget increase next year. Much of this money could go towards paying for a new IT administrator, a position which is now vacant. 

Tartaro's budget also outlines a 5 percent budget increase for the city police department, much of that for the patrol division.

The budget also provides for a 77 percent increase in the parking enforcement budget as city looks to expand downtown parking options. 

A spreadsheet breaking down the budget by revenues and department-level expenditures can be found here. City officials have also uploaded key budget documents here. 

City officials have laid out a series of five meetings to discuss and approve the budget documents. If all goes as planned, said Tartaro, the budget could be approved by April 30. 

(Ward 3) and (Ward 1), at this Monday's City Council meeting, asked why they weren't given more information relating to other budgetary items, like the city's capital improvement plan, which will have to be approved as part of the budget process. 

Tartaro said that the piecemeal distribution of the budget documents are necessary because each item affects the next piece.

Hunt said it would be his preference to see details of the city's capital improvement plan earlier in the budget process. 

Tartaro said that the city's operations budgets will have to take precedence because the scope of the city's capital improvement plan is dependent upon the passage of the operations budget. 

City Treasurer Elaine Stookey said City Council members have documents relating to every budget item slated through the April 18 meeting to discuss public works and community development. 

Stookey also said that city leaders would be getting five-year budget projections once the city approves the capital improvement plan.