Nov. 15, 2024 3p
(WGTD)---This month’s debate over the City of Racine’s budget for next year was anything but routine.
Longer meetings, philosophical differences, passionate discussions and a greater number of challenges to the budget blueprint put forth by Mayor Cory Mason in October marked the process.
Roughly the same group that conducted a boycott of city council meetings over council procedures a couple of months ago presented most of the proposed amendments to Mason’s budget.
Alder Sandy Weidner offered the greatest number, many of which were shot down by the majority. “Somebody asked me if I was disappointed because so many of my amendments failed last night. I said absolutely not. And the reason I’m not disappointed is because this is the first time I remember this body being receptive to the notion of having some back and forth discussion regarding what I perceive to be very important issues regarding how we perceive our city moving forward,” Weidner said.
By a unanimous vote, the city council late Thursday night ended the unusually long process by unanimously approving the budget as amended. Final approval is expected next week.
Alder Melissa Kaprelian was among those pushing for numerous cuts. “We truly must focus on our core services and examine the necessity of each position,” said Kaprelian, adding that the city must prepare now for what's anticipated to be a much more difficult budget year next year.
A major bone of contention was whether to continue pay and benefit differentials in a bid to increase the percentage of city workers who actually live in the city.
Kaprelian, Weidner and others opposed the practice, calling it unfair and repugnant.
Mason argued that filling positions with workers who live in the city or are willing to move to Racine will help reduce the city’s relatively high unemployment rate. “Right now only about a third of city employees are city residents,” he said. “If we can move that even to half we no longer would have the distinction in leading the state in unemployment for the last 34 years.”
In a series of votes, however, the council decided to continue those incentives.
A proposal to eliminate several positions in the city’s human resources department, including the city’s equity officer, also drew sharp debate.
Mason argued that equity and recruiter positions have been successful in increasing the diversity of the city’s work force, and in the hiring of more city residents for city jobs, but that more needs to be done. “It’s not enough to set a goal and say the city’s passing an ordinance or resolution, saying we will now work on this issue and make it a priority and then in the next breath say we’re not going to give you any resources to do that,” he said.
The council voted to retain the equity officer but voted to eliminate the recruiter position, which currently is vacant.
On another matter, the council voted to cut a $200,000 general fund appropriation to the Racine Public Library. It was a bid to force the library board to eliminate pay and benefit differentials for library employees who live in the city. The controversial incentives program supported by Mason is even more contentious at the library, since some of the library’s funding comes from the county.
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