How would you spend $193-million?

The City of Fullerton's Proposed Budget is out and tonight your elected Council will vote to approve it.

$172.6-million represents the "total appropriations" planned for FY2011-12 for the City of Fullerton and the balance, $20.4-million, is what the Redevelopment Agency plans to spend for the same period.

The biennial budget also includes a rough budget for FY20120-13 with $183.2-million in projected additional spending.

If the City had the money to spend, I could see a favorable vote by Council members, however, the 2-year budget falls $8-million short of being balanced. 

Unfortunately, this budget is based on the premise that city employees will negotiate and accept a cut in benefits in order to help balance the revenue short-fall or over-extended expenditures depending on your point of view. 

5 Council members elected by you to control $193,000,000 and in the end, we get about $4,043,000 to repave our streets and $1,600,000 to fix our water system... 

With only 3% of our budget being invested in our streets and water system its no wonder our water rates will be going up.