When the Bossier City Council finally wraps up its current painful 2010 General Fund Budget machinations perhaps its members will take a little time to consider their personal contributions to creating the city’s revenue shortfall – and resultant budget pain.

Not long ago, in this space was outlined the city’s basic revenue stream.  That stream for the largest part depends on sales tax revenue, and to a lesser extent property tax revenue.  City sales tax is 2.5 percent, and isn’t subject to alteration by the council in the absence of a public vote.

Property tax, however, is subject to council modification, and it’s assumed most readers understand that this millage levy can be “rolled back,” or “rolled forward.”  For the past several years, the council has rolled back Bossier City’s millage rates, a method of keeping property owners’ property tax relatively even year-to-year, regardless of whether the subject property has seen an increased assessment value.

As a result, according to computations provided by Deputy Tax Assessor Michelle Rogers, the Bossier City has elected to leave $10,262,689 in property taxes uncollected – from 2004 until this year -- $7,697,076 (74 percent) of which would have been exclusively dedicated to our city’s police and fire departments.

A primer on those millages:  of the 21.69 mills currently collected on city property owners, 5.59 mills is dedicated to general city operations; 8.48 mills and 2.76 mills are dedicated to the police and fire departments; and 4.86 is dedicated to police and fire salaries.

In 2004, the maximum authorized millage rates for the city was 26.77, but had been rolled back to 23.37 mills.  In 2008, the council rolled that 23.37 back to 21.69 mills.  

And in the intervening years, the council granted substantial raises to both police and fire officers – along with approving hiring of additional officers in both departments.

Ergo, the council’s significant contribution to the 2010 budget train wreck.

It is a given that no one likes taxes.  On the other hand, there’s that little question of just what we want here – first class public safety departments and city services, or the scaled down version.  It’s trite, but true:  You get what you pay for.

It is also a given that the $10.2 million in uncollected property taxes, as a result of the rollbacks, would not have entirely corrected the deficits of the last couple of years, but it certainly would have significantly reduce the gaping gap.  And that gap may reopen next year in the city’s 2011 General Fund Budget if a whispered rumor has any basis in fact:  Council members may elect to forego the police and fire department’s 2.76 millage, which is up for renewal next year.  That little millage is worth $1.3 million this year.

As most folks have probably realized through this year’s budget discussions, the police and fire department budgets account for roughly 60 percent of the city’s General Fund Budget.  While sales tax revenues are up nearly 10 percent for Bossier City this year, that increase has not kept pace with the increasing cost of such things as health insurance and the wide swings in pension fund contributions (to name only a few) and to make up for uncollected property tax revenues.

It’s time for the Bossier City Council to do a little reflecting on that recently oft repeated question of “how did we get here,” and look to what corrective action could alleviate some of the current funding problems.

And while they’re at it, maybe the chief council engineers of the amendments to the budget, which was introduced on Tuesday, would do the public the favor of explaining their rationale for the cuts they’ve proposed.  While Council members Don “Bubba” Williams and David Montgomery appear to be those chief engineers, Council member Tim Larkin voiced the exceedingly valid concern that it’s difficult to cast a vote either way at a 3 p.m. meeting, having only received the Williams-Montgomery version at 8:30 a.m. that morning.  

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