Bing Vows to Veto Detroit Council's FY12 Budget Over $50M of Cuts

CHICAGO — Detroit Mayor Dave Bing late Tuesday said he would veto a fiscal 2012 budget passed earlier in the day by the City Council that cuts more than $50 million from his $3.1 billion proposal.

The budget battle comes as Bing has repeatedly warned that Michigan would take over the long-struggling city if officials do not balance the 2012 budget and implement a plan to achieve a structural balance within five years.

In a press conference Tuesday, Bing dubbed the council’s plan to cut public safety by $12 million impractical and politically motivated and said it would force the layoffs of more than 200 officers.

“You can’t slash police, fire, and EMS by more than $12 million and expect it’s not going to negatively impact our ability to provide public safety,” Bing said.

He said Detroit’s most pressing problems are large pension and health care costs, and that those payments need to be reduced to eliminate the chronic structural deficit.

The city faces an estimated $200 million of red ink heading into next year.

Bing and the city’s two retirement systems last week announced an agreement that will allow Detroit to push out payments over seven years instead of five, a move that will save an estimated $60 million next year.

“The council’s own fiscal analyst agreed with our fiscal experts that this agreement negated the need for the kind of drastic cuts this council is putting forward,” he said.

But council members countered that the mayor’s spending plan relies on unrealistically high revenue expectations and that cuts are the only way to wipe out the structural deficit.

Council member Saunteel Jenkins said in a statement that she hopes that Bing’s revenue projections are accurate.

“However, until many of the soft revenue projections are realized, I believe the council’s conservative approach to budgeting is the proper approach,” she said. “Detroit has had a history of budgets being proposed by the administration and passed by City Council with unrealistic revenues. The result is the more than $200 million deficit we are struggling with today.”

Bing’s budget avoids layoffs by relying on a series of revenue-generating proposals that would require the approval of the state Legislature in addition to the City Council.

Michigan would need to approve bills allowing the city to raise its casino tax rate and continue to impose an income tax and utility-user tax despite the fact that the city’s population has dipped below the required 750,000.

Council members have expressed skepticism about the budget since Bing presented it in mid-April.

Bing has until June 2 to veto or approve the budget. The council then has until June 6 to vote on the spending plan. The eight-member council can override the mayor’s veto with a supermajority vote of six ­members.

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