2012 budget gains Aurora approval

Aldermen approved Aurora’s $381 million 2012 spending plan without the layoffs, furlough days and concessions from unions it took to balance the 2011 budget.

The budget includes funds for sidewalk repairs, rehab of aging sewer infrastructure, RiverEdge Park, neighborhood street resurfacing and training for police officers, along with usual personnel expenses and other costs.

“This budget is a reflection of two or three years of having to severely tighten our belt,” said Alderman-at-Large Bob O’Connor, who leads the city council’s finance committee. “I think this is as tightly-drawn a budget as we have seen in a number of years.”

Mayor Tom Weisner thanked the finance committee for its analysis of planned expenditures and said he’s glad the budget could be passed “in a timely fashion this year.”

Alderman Rick Lawrence called the budget “bad policy” and was the lone vote against it. He said the budget can’t be called tightly drawn because it increased about 4 percent from last year’s $366 million at a time when many companies and individuals still are decreasing their spending.