Council candidates go another round
Last night’s forum offered a tense moment when challenger Fred Doyle, during his opening remarks, accused Councillor Milinazzo of misrepresenting the numbers on the Early Garage at the last candidates’ forum. Doyle was animated and speaking loudly, and the time for his three-minute opening remarks seemed to fly by as audience and fellow candidates watched with rapt attention. Unfortunately, I could only stay for the opening remarks of the remaining candidates, so I don’t know if there was any further discussion regarding his accusations. Today’s Sun reports on the evening, but doesn’t mention his outburst. The Sun article, however, mentions that two more councilors, Jim Milinazzo and Rodney Elliot, are on record as not supporting the meals tax. (Armand Mercier stated at Monday’s forum that he would not support it.) According to The Sun, last night Elliott said: “I know it is included in the budget, but we will have to go back to the drawing board … to make adjustments and reductions somewhere else.” Milinazzo’s plan for the deficit without revenue from a meals tax: more furloughs for city employees.
Last June, when councilors unanimously approved the city budget, $2 million in revenue was based on the meals tax, and 20% of that, or $400,000, went towards the city’s contribution to its schools. Since then, those numbers have changed due to the state raising the sales tax (more on that in a later post). From the perspective of the schools, we will be in a difficult bind if the city reduces its contribution now. Obviously, removing teachers from classrooms or staff furloughs are not viable options in the middle of a school year. The comments may play well as political sound bites, but the practical impacts are much more complex.