As Governor Pawlenty sharpens the unallotment knife, newspapers reported over the weekend how several cities plan to deal with cuts to LGA and other city aid programs:
Star Tribune columnist Jon Tevlin features South St. Paul in his discussion of LGA cuts and the gradual weakening of the governor’s hometown:
While Pawlenty has criticized city officials who have complained that budget cuts force reductions in public safety, King says it’s already happened in South St. Paul. The city budgeted two new police hires for 2009 to help deal with increased gang activity and property crime. The unallotments caused the city to cancel the hires.
“Every department has been economizing as much as we can,” [South St. Paul City Administrator Stephen] King said. “[South St. Paul] is a nice place; we should have a brighter future than we do.”
The Pioneer Press explains how state aid cuts have impacted Cottage Grove’s bottom line:
Anticipating cuts in state aid, the city sliced $900,000 from its 2009 budget in February. City staffing levels are down 9 percent since 2006, largely because the city eliminated its emergency dispatch office and merged with Washington County.
That eliminated five positions, and the city has cut another 4.5 positions in other areas since 2006, according to Schroeder.
Schroeder said the budget for public safety—including the police and fire departments—has dropped 8 percent since 2005 to $5.4 million.
And in the Mankato Free Press, city leaders call on their Republican lawmakers to speak up for their residents and ask the governor to minimize his cuts to LGA:
With smaller outstate cities facing extremely difficult budget choices if Pawlenty cuts aid deeply, [Mankato City Manager Pat] Hentges is hopeful that Republican lawmakers might influence the governor to ease up.
“Marty Seifert and Bob Gunther and Julie Rosen and Tony Cornish, I think they should be concerned if the governor is disproportionately focusing his cuts on LGA and the cities they represent,” Hentges said, listing veteran Republican lawmakers from southern Minnesota.