08-29-11 Balanced 2012 budget offers flexibility for next mayor

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