Charlie Luken, mayor of Cincinnati, unveiled a proposed 2004 municipal budget that calls for saving some programs that were headed for the chopping block, but still targets curbside recycling for elimination.
A City Council majority already is balking at that provision, and plans to spend the next few weeks cobbling together a method for continuing the service.
But Luken warned City Council to avoid adding more spending because the city is facing severe financial constraints due to skyrocketing health insurance and pension costs for municipal workers.
Instead, the mayor wants council members to find $1.7 million in cuts elsewhere to offset the recycling program's expense.
"I expect Council to change this, but the thing I will be looking at is the overall spending level," Luken said. 'There's a lot of things in here that are going to be the subject of much debate and a great deal of disagreement."
City Council Member John Cranley, who heads the group's finance committee, praised most of Luken's budget proposal but vowed to save the recycling program.
Before basic services that directly affect residents are cut, Cranley prefers rolling back City Hall's bureaucracy, possibly by abolishing some mid-level management positions.
In the plan, the city's proposed 2004 general fund budget -- which pays for most basic municipal services -- is only balanced through using all of the $15.5 million carryover from this year, as well as a transfer of $1 million from another fund that eventually must be repaid. Cincinnati Post