Aaahhhh yes… but WHERE are those cuts going to happen? That’s the 3 million dollar question!
The city is going to have to cut approximately $3 million more out of this year’s fiscal budget. This is in addition to cuts already made, including furlough days, reduced wages, and hiring freezes.
Emory Bryan, in his report today on KOTV, made a good point that a lot of Tulsans do not know about (video). It pertains to which departments should be getting cut this go-around (emphasis mine):
The cutbacks will impact basic city services like police, but not utility service because that’s self supporting.
The cuts will come in the city’s general fund. That pays for police, fire, streets and parks.
If you’ve ever wondered about your water or sewer service facing diminished service levels… don’t worry, they’re completely safe. These services are what’s called “Enterprise” fund departments. What this means is this: When you pay your utility bill, guess where that money goes? Goes into a fund that is COMPLETELY SEPARATE from the city’s general fund which is funded by local sales tax. Public works is a utility, and you pay them with your monthly utility bill. That’s how they maintain their service levels despite the fact that sales tax revenue is down. It is really not much different than ONG or PSO. You get billed by them and that is what they operate from.
Technically, the departments that might need to worry are police, fire, and parks.
Now, that said, I believe that we citeewurkors should all pull together to get through this tough time. I’m willing to take a few furlough days as a public works employee, even if it means the mayor will take money out of the Enterprise fund and somehow get it into the general fund. (I’ve never understood how that is done legally, but I digress….)
However, there is one thing the mayor and I do agree on. When she gathered us all up to talk about the furlough plan, she mentioned one thing: funding certain core city services through local sales tax is a bad idea. She never offered alternatives, but I agreed nonetheless. Perhaps diversifying funding for the general fund would be in order. Ah heck.. what do I know…. I’ll just leave that to the creative accountants budget folks.
So… the next time you hear someone complaining about public works having whatever million dollars worth of overtime.. just remember where that money comes from. Your utility bill. Not your taxes.
Thank you, drive through.
meeciteewurkor Tulsa
