‘Tis But A Flesh Wound
City officials trying to pitch a nearly $8-million shortfall for next year’s budget as a sign that Charlotte is in relatively good shape are either completely delusional, or they think the public is a collective gang of ignorant buffoons.
Look, folks, just because your neighbor was in a car wreck that left him hospitalized with two fractured legs, a punctured lung and a broken pelvis, doesn’t make the gaping head wound you suffered falling off a ladder any less severe.
Compared to Mecklenburg County and some cities across the country, yes, Charlotte’s $8-million budget gap comes off looking more like a tiny crevice than a giant chasm. But to hear city officials and councilmembers claim it as proof positive they’ve done a bang-up job guiding Charlotte’s fiscal ship through an economic storm is ludicrous.
Even the $8-million number is a bit misleading, and assumes that a decidedly liberal majority of the council will stick with cutting funding for after-school programs, slicing money for the Children’s Theater at ImaginOn, and shorting city employees on salary bumps for a second consecutive year, which could ramp the shortfall up to nearly $13 million, plus an additional $2 million the council would need to find to bridge the shortfall even with the proposed cuts.
Meanwhile, councilmembers are tossing around $12 million chasing federal grant money for a streetcar that could ultimately end up shellacking Charlotte taxpayers for upwards of $450 million, but need to tinker with police overtime pay, delay the installation of new street lights, and jettison school crossing guards and campus cops to help balance a budget.
Wonderful.
We need your help! If you like PunditHouse, please consider donating to us. Even $5 a month can make a difference!
Short URL: https://pundithouse.com/?p=1311
