Aurora approves balanced budget after 'arduous' process

The Aurora City Council on Tuesday approved a balanced budget for 2010, ending what the mayor called an "arduous" process.

Having closed what was once a $19 million deficit, aldermen voted 10-2 in favor of the spending plan.

The 2010 budget includes expenditures of $347.7 million, not including carry-overs from last year, according to Finance Director Brian Caputo. Expenditures are down about $65.6 million compared to 2009.

Roughly half of the decrease in spending is due to completion of the new police department headquarters on Indian Trail Road. The rest is due to budget cuts.

Earlier this year, the city was facing a $19 million budget gap. Revenue from five major sources is down $10 million from 2008.

Mayor Tom Weisner said the process of cutting costs has been both mentally and emotionally "arduous".

"This has not been a simple year at all," Weisner said. "We have to measure very carefully, very judiciously what we can cut in terms of dollars, what we can cut in terms of people and still be able to provide critical services to our community."

In recent months, 80 employees have left the city though voluntary and involuntary layoffs.

Other spending cuts include funding for things like the city's Public Art Commission and summer music festivals.

Fourth Ward Alderman Rick Lawrence and Seventh Ward Alderman Scheketa Hart-Burns were the two "no" votes on the budget Tuesday.

Hart-Burns expressed concern about cuts that could be made to the city's youth programs like Youth Court, which allows juvenile offenders to be tried by their peers instead of going through the traditional court system.

"What are our youth going to do? All over the city kids were being affected with Youth Court," she said. "All over the city kids are getting in trouble. We did have a direction, a place to send them to try to help them."

Daniel Barreiro, director of community services, said the city will still be able to continue the majority of its youth programs with the help of community partners and by running programs more efficiently.

Lawrence, the other dissenting vote on the budget, said he feels the city is bloated with too many employees and unnecessary expenses.

"The reason we have bad economic times is not because of private sector misconduct only," he said. "It's because the governments and the state and the municipalities and the federal government spend too much money. They suck the money out of the economy."

Alderman Large Bob O'Connor said some things are not within the city's control, such as the pension system. He disagreed with Lawrence's characterization of the budget and said it is responsible, not bloated.

"It translates into programs, into activity, into capital construction," he said. "Everything that in the long term has a benefit for this community."