04/05/2002

Budget Stories
You've heard some of the budget stories and read some of the newspaper articles. I'm concerned, but not worried. Let me tell you why.

1. It's very unlikely city officials would let a budget pass that would zero out our state appropriation. When we met with our advisory committees two weeks ago, they felt the most important thing to do was to retain the state appropriation.

2. If we do receive any cuts, we will find ways to deal with them. We have already reviewed several revenue raising options with our advisory committee and have their support.

So, please join me in being concerned, but there is no need to worry. Our support from city officials is based on our ability to provide excellent service to them. If you will worry about keeping our service quality high, I'll handle the permutations of the state budget.

Thanks.