6 years ago by Scott Hardy
$4/month Public Safety fee would last one year
Quincy's Mayor and the City Council continue to try to restore possible cuts in next year's budget, ahead of a vote next week. Scott Hardy has more.
( Audio 1 :35 )
Both the Council and Mayor Kyle Moore say they're continuing to talk about how to fund services that would be cut if there's no changes to the proposed Fiscal Year 2019 budget. That includes not only four less firefighters and the closing of Station Number 6, but also no new properties being added to the City's Fix or Flatten program, and the loss of a nuisance abatement inspector. That proposal's not popular with aldermen in the city's western wards, who deal much more with abandoned and empty houses. After the meeting, Mayor Kyle Moore said that a proposed four dollar a month public safety fee could take care of those problems, at least for the next fiscal year.
( Mayor Kyle Moore :17 )
That fee, which would raise some $800,000, would sunset on April 30th, 2019. Moore hopes that by then, how the city collects revenue will change.
( Mayor Kyle Moore :14 )
Not only is the budget up for a final vote next week, so's a proposed doubling of water and sewer rates to pay for infrastructure improvements. In its' current form, that will likely be voted down. A modified proposal to raise fees by a third could also be voted on next week. Engineering Department head Jeffrey Conte says that if there's no rate hike, the city's water and sewer departments would be operating at a net loss within two years.
