The Chronicle‘s Matt Stiles has filed an early report on Mayor White’s proposed budget for the coming fiscal year:
The $1.69 billion preliminary budget — a five percent increase over the current fiscal year that ends June 30 — continues to make public safety a priority, with about 64 percent of all non-debt spending on fire, police and emergency medical services.
[snip]
The mayor emphasized what he called a disciplined, “performance-based” approach to crafting the budget. He said the city should do more with fewer people and less spending thanks to increased efficiency.
“We are always striving to have increased performance,” he told reporters at an afternoon news conference. “Everything that we’ve done we’ve tried to get more value for the taxpayer dollar.”
The Mayor’s press office must be pleased with that coverage.
As Miya Shay reports for KTRK-13, raises for firefighters figure prominently in the new budget:
A plan for Houston to spend more than a billion and a half dollars is now on paper. Among the many pages of the latest proposed city budget is good news for Houston firefighters, men and women who have been working without a raise for years.
For the past six years, they battled blazes without a pay raise. That will change dramatically in a new contract, which over four years, will increase Houston firefighters’ pay by 34 percent.
KHOU-11’s Doug Miller reports that Mayor White has also included spending for new police cadet classes:
The budget also calls for two new fire stations and for four new police cadet classes.
Four new classes aren’t going to solve HPD’s manpower shortage, but at least the problem finally seems to be on the “Public Safety” mayor’s radar.
UPDATE (05-24-2005): The updated reporting from Matt Stiles for today’s print edition of the Chronicle is much more thorough. Here is an interesting blurb:
The general government sector, which includes citywide costs that can’t be attributed to specific departments, would get the largest percentage increase: about 33 percent.
33 percent? That sounds like real money!
