1. By Brian Frazier

2.  Hi my name is Brian Frazier and I am here to talk to you about City Budgets. Not just the budget of Cincinnati but also the solutions of budget debts in other states. What is your opinion on how we can improve our cities budget plan?

3.  Mayor Annise Parker of Houston, Texas unveiled a $4.1 billion spending plan.  Balancing the city’s budget largely through a one-time draw of surplus funds, land sales, fee increases and spending cuts.  Including the $62 million in cuts and land sales Parker closed an anticipated $140 mil budget gap  using $54 mil in surplus funds, $15 mil in fee increases and $24.4 mil in departmental cuts.  She also discontinued the use of debt to pay for pension obligations.  Also reducing times some parks and swimming pools are open are under consideration in Houston.  in Dayton, Ohio Vandalia will increase sewer rates by 10 percent each of the next 3 years to pay for multiple public improvements.  A divided Lebanon City Council approved a 6 percent water rate increase for 2011.  Dayon city officials also considered an income tax hike, but after hearing opposition from residents they increased trash and ambulance transport fees.  Dayton’s city commission approved the trash increase saying it could improve the city’s budget by $1 million.  Oakwood has raised swimming pool rates for 2011 by 12 to 40% depending on the type of membership and rental fees.

4.  Mr. Frazier,   Thank you for contacting Mayor Mallory's Office with your question about the budget situation. "What do you think the best thing Cincinnati can do to fix this budget," is quiet a broad question. If there was a simple answer then the budget would be fixed. Some history and perspective is necessary to understand our budget situation.   The budget that you hear about in the news is the City's general operations budget which goes towards paying for city services. The majority goes to police, fire and waste removal. This is not the same budget or source of funding that is used to pay for capital projects, ie the Banks Project or the Cincinnati Streetcar System. The tax money that goes towards the general operations budget comes primarily from the city income tax which as been %2.1 since the Mayor has been in office. The problem in the last few years is that the worldwide economic downtown has resulted in higher unemployment in Cincinnati, and everywhere else. Less jobs means less people are paying the city income tax which means we have less money to spend on the quality services that our citizens have come to rely on. So our focus is first to create as many jobs in the city as possible to create additional revenue without having to raise taxes. We also want to make sure that our current services are running effectively. Over the last few years we have avoided having to raise taxes or lay off large amounts of public workers due to some creative budgeting. So to answer your question simply the best thing we can do to fix the budget is to spur development within the City of Cincinnati.   Thanks and feel free to contact me at my information below if you have any follow up questions.   Brenden Regan  Aide to Mayor Mark Mallory

5.  Dear Mr. Frazier: I have forwarded your email requesting information on Houston's current budget to the Director of our Finance Department, Kelly Dowe. He will have someone in the department respond. Your email is a little vague...I'm not sure what you mean by "I would like to know how you unveiled a $4.1 billion budget." Are you asking what the process was for developing the budget? We actually "unveiled" it with a press release and by sending copies to Council Members who then held workshops on it where department directors made presentations and Council Members asked questions. Then Council Members submitted amendments at one Council Meeting which were discussed and voted on at a day-long Council meeting the following week. But I'm guessing that's not really what you are asking--how we unveiled the budget. If you'd like to clarify, I will forward your clarification to Mr. Dowe also.   Madeleine G. Appel  Deputy Chief of Staff  Office of the Mayor  City of Houston

6.  My program is trying to accomplish a plan that will get Cincinnati out of its budget debt by increasing trash fees, sewage fees, water fees and recreational fees. My program will focus on adding on to things that can be paid for with little to no problems, things in a city that wont cause more problems.We will do that by focusing on one goal or plan at a time.  __I will need to help people who are interested in the budget of their city and want to make a change they will be getting opinions from the people of the city and also they will have to work hard to figure out what their neighborhoods they are working in really need to work on and what they need to cut and increase in order to get their money back in order. I will need city workers also for water trash and recreational purposes.  I will need somewhere to meet up for volunteer services to do things instead of using up more money to buy things we can have fund raising services to save money going towards up and coming projects or plans. We will need everything we can to decrease the debt but we don’t want to spend any excess money if we don’t have to.  My cuts will be 10% more on trash fees each year, 8% on water fees each year and sewage fees by 12%. Also recreational fees and prices will go up a extra 7%.

7.  Cooper, Michael. "Squeezed Cities Ask Nonprofits for More Money." The New York Times, 11 May 2011. Web. 7 Oct. 2011..   Gudgeirsson, Pall. "Balancing the City Budget…the Guiding Principles." Sanclemente Times. Sanclemente Times, 24 Mar. 2010. Web. 7 Oct. 2011..   Olson, Bradley. "Houston Mayor Unveils $4.1 Billion Budget - Houston Chronicle." Houston News, Sports, Business, and Entertainment - The Houston Chronicle at Chron.com - Houston Chronicle. Houston Chronicle, 12 May 2010. Web. 07 Oct. 2011..   A lot of people might say that they don’t like the way we are adding money onto already costly fees but it’s a well needed procedure that after everything is said and done it will benefit not only the City but also the people of the city in numerous ways there wont be any or close to no debt so there will be a lot of new things put into place jobs, living space and a lot of other things that will benefit our city.

8.  Cited by The Budget Money Foundation