Bing Budget on the Block

The Detroit City Council Friday approved a 2011 fiscal budget that chopped roughly $32 million from Mayor Dave Bing’s proposed spending plan.

Council members said Bing’s budget did not cut enough and that the council’s fiscal analyst projected a deficit nearly $40 million higher than the mayor’s analysts. Bing is expected to use his line-item veto authority to restore the cuts.

“Council feels we have identified more cost savings, which we strongly urge the mayor to accept,” Council President Charles Pugh told the Detroit Free Press.

The cuts include $6.5 million from the police department, as well as others to the fire department and the general services department. Bing’s administration said the cuts would force huge layoffs and service cuts in the struggling city.

“Council’s budget cuts will devastate an already under-resourced city,” Bing said in a statement. “Council’s budget attacks the fundamental priorities this administration laid out in its budget: public safety, fiscal stability and job creation. My budget reduced spending by $100 million with limited impacts to service based on data.”

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