Politics & Government
Reporter's Notebook: Lend Your Voice
Citizens can use publicly available resources to help provide input concerning Shrewsbury's budget deficit debate.
For the last year, I’ve attended the majority of the sessions held by the Shrewsbury Board of Aldermen and witnessed an ongoing discussion about how to address the city’s chronic budget deficiencies.
The conversation has covered a broad range of proposed solutions, from department cuts to and (most controversially) , and now more than ever, your elected officials are .
At question is not whether the city is running deficits. Although a one-time financial windfall from a construction permit sliced Shrewsbury’s 2011 deficit to around $35,000 from a projected $181,000, the city previously saw a shortfall of approximately $81,000 in 2010 and is predicting to come up just over $263,000 short in 2012.
Find out what's happening in Affton-Shrewsburywith free, real-time updates from Patch.
With negotiations stalled over the Kenrick Plaza redevelopment, the city’s elected officials will need to balance the budget the old-fashioned way – through spending cuts and/or tax increases.
Unfortunately, there are no easy answers for the challenge of providing residents with high-quality services while being able to pay for said services during a state of economic downturn. That’s where we can come in.
Find out what's happening in Affton-Shrewsburywith free, real-time updates from Patch.
The great thing about local government is that it can be much more accessible than its state or federal counterparts. The city of Shrewsbury’s budget isn’t a mammoth tome that would take two federal lobbyists to lift. It’s, in fact, a rather reasonable 47 pages and readily available for convenient browsing as a PDF on the city’s website.
The budget not only details the total expenses and revenue for each department, but also contains itemized lists that spell out how much was spent on what.
For citizens who would like to have a voice in the future of the community, it’s a valuable tool in helping decide what’s important to you, what services you would like to see the city provide and how much you would be willing to pay for them.
How would you like to see the city address its finances? What services could you not live without and what would you be willing to let go? Or do you think there is an alternate solution? Let us know in the comments or, better yet, contact your alderman.