The Council chose tonight to remove the helicopter from the Capital Improvement Program. The $1.2 million annual price tag for salaries and maintanence was to be funded through the SafeLight Camera Program.

Like I have posted here several times, I do not feel it would be a responsible decision to fund a permanent asset with temporary or unstable funds. As mentioned tonight by Bryan Bradford, the Budget Director, the fund is already about 50% below projections for this year. The fund will not be able to meet next year's projections and no one can predict whether the Legislature will kill red light cameras or just take some or all of the money this Spring. For any public servant, charged with protecting the City's assets, to make such an unsound decision would be irresponsible. Wishful thinking does not equate to responsible thinking.

The consequence of proceeding would have definitely forced a tax increase or the cancellation of other city services.

Ironically, the Council did approve two public safety-related projects that have been in the wings awaiting funding for years: the Fire Administration, Support Services, and Training Facilities ($11,967,545) and the Police Department Shooting Range ($1,995,500). The Fire facilities have been planned for almost a decade.

Particularly toward the Fire facilities, construction costs have risen so much since when initially approved and today that additional monies will have to be borrowed. Servicing that debt will impact the tax rate.

Citizens that spoke tonight of their willingness to bear extra taxes for the helicopter can be commended, but their claims that most other citizens would support such an increase has been counter to my experience. I feel I've heard from a very wide variety of people across the city that almost unanimously felt we could not afford a helicopter at this time. Easily 90% of the people that I spoke to during the recent campaign and since expressed their view that a helicopter was unneeded or unaffordable.

I am personally convinced that a helicopter could be a tremendous tool for city law enforcement but I have the same concerns as to whether we can afford it. The Eurocopter ordered late last year, but not delivered, will most likely be cancelled. A second proposal, reported here earlier, is not dead. However, listening to Police Chief Bates tonight, he did not identify a helicopter as his top two priorities and didn't indicate where he would place it on his "wish list."

Surely not all will agree but I think the Council made the fiscally-responsible decision tonight. And this won't be the last hard decision. I anticipate several hundred over the next six weeks alone as we work our way through the budget. Debt service alone is putting tremendous pressure, at least two cents, on the tax rate. The extra police and fire personnel hired in the last couple years have created extra pressure too as more support personnel and equipment are needed.

We have a bright future. As Council member Mark Monroe says, "2017," referring to when so much of our debt will have been paid off and major economic incentives will have expired, leaving 100% of the sales tax to city coffers. We cannot continue to act like the last Council, spending as though it were 2016.

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