Othello mayor discusses city budget
OTHELLO — I would like to take this opportunity to add balance and clarification to the “tabloid” style of journalism of the Othello Outlook and in particular, the editorial, “Raise Your Hand” in the December 3 issue. The focus of the editorial is the 2010 budget for the City of Othello. Mr. La Fontaine discusses what he would do with $18 million. The City Council is entrusted with the taxpayers’ monies, not Mr. La Fontaine. The tax dollars the Council is entrusted with, come from many sources; the two most prominent ones are property tax and sales tax, which was omitted from the editorial. The City Council is under a sworn oath to adopt a balanced budget; Mr. La Fontaine is not. So if Mr. La Fontaine has $18 million, he could spend it on big screen TVs as he suggests. The high dollar figure of the budget is the sum total of monies entrusted to the City for reinvesting in the community, and includes enterprise funds such as water/sewer, not just the operating budget. Personally, I am excited that we currently have the monies in the budget to make improvements to our community – and yes, we are growing and are improving City services, an option other cities do not currently have.
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