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O45pU T11 4�� <br /> 4 O <br /> �^ 2 <br /> U '7 <br /> W rents j <br /> 1865 <br /> Office of the Mayor <br /> NEWS RELEASE <br /> August 29,2011 <br /> 4 p.m. <br /> Balanced 2012 budget offers flexibility for next mayor <br /> Contact: Mikki Dobski, Director of Communications&Special Projects, 235-5855 or 876-1564 or <br /> Gregg Ziemara, City Controller, 235-9216 <br /> With flat revenue projections for 2012,the administration of Mayor Stephen J. Luecke is <br /> proposing a balanced General Fund spending budget of$64.4 million for the coming year, a 1- <br /> percent decrease from the current fiscal year. <br /> The South Bend Common Council is beginning a series of hearings today on the proposed 2012 <br /> budget. The General Fund, which pays for general government and public-safety functions, <br /> represents the largest of six segregated sections of budget accounts requiring Council approval. <br /> The overall City budget—which includes pensions,road projects, capital investments and user- <br /> funded accounts like utilities—is proposed to be $263.4 million, down 2 percent from 2011. <br /> On the expenditure side,the budget retains public-safety forces at full strength, including the <br /> addition of five new firefighters in 2012. Efforts to reduce abandoned housing through <br /> demolition of substandard structures again will receive $500,000 in funding in 2012, while staff <br /> in the South Bend Parks and Recreation Department will continue to operate a full complement <br /> of programs. <br /> "We're presenting a balanced budget and trying to offer some flexibility so that the new mayor <br /> can consider launching some new initiatives fairly quickly," said Luecke, whose term expires <br /> Jan. 1, 2012, after nearly 15 years as South Bend's longest-serving mayor. "Despite a loss of <br /> $21.3 million in property tax revenues for 2012 as a result of the state's tax caps,the City of <br /> South Bend is in strong financial position through reduced spending, conservative fiscal policy, <br /> local option income tax increases and fiscally responsible behavior." <br /> The City's property tax revenues for 2012 are projected to be the same as 2011 —$49.6 million. <br /> The total, however, only remains level because it includes new sources of tax revenues from the <br /> termination of the Tax Increment Financing district serving Erskine Commons and a one-year <br /> release of revenue from another southside TIF district serving Erskine Village. City officials are <br />