Ashland’s Budget – What is going on?
In a clip of the May 11, 2017 Budget Hearing, Bev Adams (former Interim Director of Administrative Services and Finances) who compiled the 2017-19 budget document, states she was surprised that Ashland didn’t have more available reserves. Ashland acts as if it has a lot of extra money, but Ms. Adams stated quite clearly; “I am here to tell you, you don’t.” https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YFolNrdFITw
Knowing this, the Ashland City Council approved the hiring of five new police officers – $1,000,000 additional expense for 2017-2019 budget. They did this with NO revenue stream to pay for it.
They then simply increased our property tax, and added a surcharge to our monthly utility bills in order to pay for the four officers that they are hiring. In addition to this —-
January 2, 2018, “Mayor Stromberg explained that the City has $1.7 million that already needs to be backfilled in the General Fund.” This translates into the city having a deficit that he and the councilors need to find additional funds to cover in this biennium, ending June 30, 2019. Hang on to your check book!!
What do you think of the city’s budget situation?
