There He Goes Again

There he goes again. Yes, that's what Ronald Reagan would say about James (Mondale) Suttle, Omaha's increasingly less esteemed mayor who has never seen a tax he doesn't like. Next Tuesday is d-day for the mayor's budget and will be act 2 of the embarrassing performance began on Monday with the non-release of the 'completely negotiated' police contract.

The Douglas Street Rag reports this morning:

Higher taxes will be on the table as the City of Omaha begins its 2011 budget debate next week.
Mayor Jim Suttle is certain to propose at least one new or increased tax when he unveils his proposed city budget at Tuesday's City Council meeting.

And the tax burden could fall on more than just Omaha residents — the changes may affect anyone who works in the city, dines at a local restaurant or visits the zoo.

In an interview with The World-Herald, Suttle said Omaha needs to raise more tax revenue in order to keep providing basic city services such as police protection, parks and libraries.

“We need to face the music to maintain our quality of life,” Suttle said. “We want services, and we want the police to be there to protect public safety.”

The mayor is looking at the possibility of higher property taxes, a new entertainment tax or an occupation tax on Omaha workers and their employers. He also is considering an increase in the wheel tax to pay for street improvements.

Suttle declined to say which tax hike he will propose, calling the decision “a dead heat.” He did not rule out the possibility of more than one new tax.

“We need to explore all the revenue options,” he said.

Spending cuts alone can't solve the city's budget problems, Suttle said. The public doesn't want to see services eliminated, he said, noting strong opposition last year to his efforts to ground the police helicopter and close pools and libraries.

In addition, the mayor said, few of the reductions he could propose would make a major dent in the projected $21 million shortfall for 2011 — let alone cover an additional $13.5 million to help shore up the city's police and fire pension fund.

Yes, Suttle's solution for every problem is a tax-increase. "We need to explore all revenue options." In reading the above, one would note that he somehow failed to even mention any spending cuts. He somehow failed to mention any new constraints on his thug-run, out-0f-control, over-spending fire department.

The full impact of Suttle's give-a-way police contract hasn't even been added to this year's anticipated budget deficits of the $13.5 and $21 million for this and next year. Neither has the likely CIR decision that will surely add an additional $2 million to this year's deficit.

What has Suttle done through the first half of the year to cut spending? Virtually nothing! Under Hal Daub's administration, cuts were made from the moment that problems occurred. Whether you liked Daub or not, there was never, never a fiscal crisis of this magnitude and taxes continued to be reduced under his administration.

On the other hand, if you make no cuts. If you are so incompetent as to refuse to rein in spending. If you refuse to offend those who elected you and continue to take advantage of the tax payer (police and fire) what have you left? One huge budget deficit, a crisis! And, of course, following the mindset of his great leader in Washington why waste a crisis. Use it to raise taxes so your next 3 years of budgeting go unchallenged because of huge and new tax increases you've implemented.

We've said it recently but repeat this mayor is not only incompetent, he's delusional. Guess that means, 'there WE go again!'