2/22/13 - At its regular meeting Thursday night the Brighton City Council heard a report in the process that will lead to the 2013-14 fiscal year city budget to be unveiled in March. City Manager Dana Foster told council he is looking at a combination of new revenue sources - such as a possible voter-approved ballot initiative - and cost-cutting measures that might include contracting out for certain services. A reduction in city services may also be in the future in order to trim costs. Foster stresses that there will be no layoffs, but positions that open up through attrition may not be filled. Foster says that the forecast also includes a âmini-CIPâ â meaning capital improvements - that would require going to the voters with a ballot issue. City voters defeated a bond issue for a laundry list of infrastructure needs last November by a narrow margin. Foster says cost-cutting measures might also involve restructuring of city staff, including reassigning city employees to other duties. Foster says the potential revenue enhancements could generate enough funds to pay for the improvements and even fund daily city services on a cash basis. He says the revenue proposal would be subject to approval by city voters. He adds that an alternate 6-year plan will be presented that would assume a continued decline in property values and no new revenue sources requiring further reductions to avoid a deficit. Foster will go into specifics when he presents the proposed 2013-14 city budget to council on March 21. (TT)
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