Each week through the Primary, The Breeze will ask the candidates for Cape Coral City Council an issue-related question. In the interest of fairness, each candidate is limited to the same amount of words, about 100, for their response.

This week’s question:

What is your first impression of the city’s working budget for the next fiscal year?

District 3 candidates’ answers:

Chad Bruening

BrueningforCouncil.com

Upon my initial review, the budget is a good starting point for a working document. Without knowing the finite details from all the departments, it’s tough to judge the accuracy of the current figures. We need to keep in mind a budget is nothing more than a financial forecast, just as we do in our personal and business finances. The pluses need to out-weigh the minuses and we must set something aside for that inevitable rainy day.

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Derrick Donnell

DerrickDonnell.com

My first impression was one of optimism because the working budget used a reduced millage rate of 5.3126 that kept all our current service levels the same. During the July 24 council meeting, council further lowered the millage rate to 5.2188. Although I support efforts to lower taxes for our residents, the city manager informed council that if the 5.2188 millage passed, current service levels would be impacted. The city manager needed to revise and bring back the budget using both millage rates so that council and residents could discuss the impacts before the final vote. I am now anxious.

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Daniel J. Ludlow

A lot of fat can be trimmed, i.e.

Adding 6 heads to the Legal Staff – 46% increase in staff. Why? Outside legal support should be used for any litigation.

Adding 2 Auditors – 33% increase in staff. They are not used properly. Waste of money.

Adding 12 to the police department – Only 1 is a patrol officer

66 heads being proposed in total (page 43)

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Deborah Lee McCormick

McCormickforCapeCouncil.com

I’m concerned with the process as a whole. Previously, the Budget Review Committee would have had a very impactful role in the process of creating and passing the city’s budget. However, the City Council made the highly irresponsible decision of abolishing the Budget Review Committee — stripping further citizen input from the process. I believe that it is crucial that the city reestablish this and other citizen boards to improve the process overall. In terms of specific projects in the budget, I want to see major reviews and reconsiderations of appropriations for the Jaycee Park renovation project, as well as general reconsideration of projects that may not be as cost-effective as they should be. Financial responsibility and citizen input is my vision for the city budget!