The new members of the Council had the first of two information sessions on the forthcoming budget tonight. A few Council members that weren't so new, such as myself, availed ourselves to the "refresher" course. Bryan Bradford, budget director, took us through the basics of governmental budgeting, explaining the different types of funds, types of debt, and limitations.

My greatest concerns since Day One have been adequate planning and a strategy to deal with the declining residential base and what happens when we reach build-out. The simple answers are to use new methods to reverse the residential decline, to expand current development and to establish new sources of growth, and to adopt new zoning philosophies and regulations that allow and encourage redevelopment. Simple answers but not simple tasks.

We could reach build-out in five to seven years. We should be operating from our strategy now. It takes time to implement such strategies and we have a short period to succeed. Our city is moving in the right direction; my concern is that we do it much more quickly.

The budget is key. We must be using our tax dollars to fund those departments and activities that will carry us successfully forward. We cannot keep raising the tax rate because that ultimately strangles growth and weakens every sector of the city, even the treasury.

I and other Council members have been pushing for a 2020 strategy, that would carry us through build-out, through the tightest years, past the incentives to the Town Center, TMPA debt, and other obligations, to a time when we have some major breathing room.

Will we use that breathing room to enhance the quality of life for our residents or will those new monies slowly disappear as we band-aid infrastructure repairs and save basic services?

The fun is about to begin and you are invited to watch and to offer suggestions into the budgeting process.

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