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March 29, 2004
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<br /> At a Called Meeting of the City Council on Monday, March 29, 2004, there were
<br />present:
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<br />Mayor James W. Holley III, Vice Mayor Bernard D. Griffin, Sr., Cameron C. Pitts,
<br />J. Thomas Benn III, William E. Moody, Jr., Charles B. Whitehurst, Sr.,
<br />Marlene W. Randall, City Manager C. W. McCoy.
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<br />04 - 121 - The following call for the meeting was read:
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<br /> "Please attend a Called Meeting of the City Council to be held in the City Council
<br />Chamber, 801 Crawford Street, 6th floor, 5:00 p.m., Monday, March 29, 2004 for the
<br />purpose of the proposed Annual Operating Budget.
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<br />In addition, you may consider a motion to go into a Closed Meeting.
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<br />By order of the Mayor."
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<br />04- 122 -The following item was discussed in Public Work Session:
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<br />1. Proposed Annual Operating Budget - FY 05
<br />
<br />As your City Manager, it is my responsibility and my great honor to present the
<br />proposed operating and capital budgets for fiscal year 2004-2005 for the City of
<br />Portsmouth. To be blunt, today I am going to talk about money. There is nothing wrong
<br />with that, since money is the engine that drives government. Shakespeare said, "Suit
<br />the action to the word, the word to the action." To paraphrase Shakespeare, we might
<br />note that the City budget is where we suit the money to the priority, and the priority to
<br />the money. The budget is nothing more - and nothing less - than a "spend plan" in
<br />which City management recommends and City Council determines the highest needs of
<br />our citizens and customers and provides the financial resources to meet those needs.
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<br />There is a humorous saying that you can figure out how much money you personally
<br />need to pay your bills by taking your current income and adding ten percent. In many
<br />ways, the City budget seems like that. We have many challenges and many
<br />opportunities, and yet there is a limit to our resources to meet those challenges and
<br />fulfill those opportunities. Last year my budget theme was "challenges and choices."
<br />This year my theme is: challenges met and priorities set.
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<br />You have heard me say several times over the winter that this is the toughest budget
<br />the City has faced in many years, and I believe that statement is true for most local
<br />governments in Virginia. That is true for many reasons: the uncertainty that terrorists
<br />are causing throughout the world; the ups and downs of our national economy; the
<br />difficult, even unprecedented, situation with the State budget; and the limitations that
<br />are structurally inherent in local government in Virginia in general and in the City
<br />government in Portsmouth in particular, where the State requires us to depend heavily
<br />on real estate taxes and yet more than half of our real estate is non-taxable - including,
<br />ironically, a major State port operation. Regardless of how the State resolves its current
<br />budgetary dilemma, I am firmly convinced that the long-term answer lies in major tax
<br />reform in Virginia. Portsmouth will continue to work through Virginia's First Cities,
<br />Virginia Municipal League and other organizations to make the case for fundamental
<br />changes in the tax structure in the Old Dominion.
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<br />Despite the budgetary difficulties this year, I want to make it clear that it is not my intent
<br />in this budget presentation to dwell on gloom and doom. Instead, this is a message of
<br />hope, optimism and opportunity. Portsmouth is a city which has enjoyed a great
<br />renaissance over the last several years, thanks to many wise decisions and investments
<br />by the City Council. It is our challenge to continue this renaissance and maintain the
<br />momentum that is transforming our city in so many ways.
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<br />At its latest retreat, in November of last year, the City Council again confirmed its three
<br />Spheres of Success: Neighborhood Quality, Economic Development and Fiscal
<br />Strength. Based on these Spheres, Council specifically set budget priorities of public
<br />education, public safety and economic development, with an underpinning of financial
<br />sustainability. I might note that public education and public safety are two of the major
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