How do you want your tax dollars spent?
At a Tuesday budget hearing, the City Council is going to hear from the Big Three: the police, fire and parks departments. All three are slated for cuts and the council wants to compare the budgets side-by-side-by-side to drive home the point that the city's options for dealing with a $39 million deficit are limited.
The pivotal hearing will also place council members face to face with three of the most influential special interest groups at City Hall: the police union, the firefighters union and Local 39, which is the city's largest union and represents many parks workers.
So far, the Sacramento police and fire unions have worked together closely to pressure the City Council not to cut public safety budgets. It will be interesting to see if that continues on Tuesday.
A proposal by Interim City Manager Bill Edgar calls for 80 police officers to be laid off, as well as dozens more crime scene and clerical employees in the police department.
Six fire department rigs would be placed on rotating "brownouts" - up from the current two - although that figure will almost certainly decrease after the council accepts a $5.6 million federal grant.
This is the fifth year of large deficits at City Hall. Given the cuts that have already taken place, many at City Hall have described this year's situation as the most dire because there is less left to cut.
Given that, what are your expectations for the city government? And what are your priorities? Public safety? Parks? Community centers and pools?
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