"In a news article last week, The Times Herald newspaper in Port Huron described in dire terms the consequences for the city if voters don’t approve two local property tax hikes on Aug. 8.
According to the article, not approving the tax hikes would mean reductions in police and fire protection as well as “no city pools, no funding for parks and recreation programs” or a sports and concert venue.
The article stated that in the past three years, “the city has reduced government spending by $3 million by reducing staff and privatizing some services, among other actions.”
This is true of overall spending and spending from the city’s general fund, which covers day-to-day salary and operating expenses.
But as often happens when municipal finance is in the news, spending reductions in one area are portrayed as cuts to the overall budget even though spending in other areas has risen by a greater amount, and overall spending is up.
Port Huron provides an example.
In the past three years, the city’s overall spending rose from $25.1 million in 2014 to $27.9 million in 2016.
The general fund budget rose $4.1 million over the period..."
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