The Athens City Auditor projected at yesterday's City Council meeting that for every $1 million Ohio University cuts over the next two years, the city will need to cut its budget by $16,500.
The university cuts, which potentially could take place over the course of the next two years, would affect the income taxes brought in for the city budget, Auditor Kathy Hecht said using estimates OU provided her. Income taxes are the city's main source of revenue, she said.
OU administrators say the university's Budget and Planning Council's spending recommendations to OU's president would lead to a 7 percent budget cut for the next fiscal year. OU administrators plan possible cuts for 2012 that could be even greater depending on federal and state funding, according to a Jan. 26 article in The Post.
The potential budget cuts could cost the city $100,000 to $150,000 from the general fund alone, Hecht said.
The general fund makes up $11 million of the city's $30 million budget, and it would be cut the most, Hecht said.
We are going to have to tighten up our budget
Mayor Paul Wiehl said.
Wiehl said 80 percent of the budget is personnel based, which makes cutting back difficult to do, especially in areas such as the police and fire department.
Some positions we have to replace he said. But sometimes we are forced to not replace retirees.
Funding for the police and fire department make up half of the general fund, Hecht said.
The general fund is the most difficult area to cut, because the city uses it to pay for services that don't generate revenue, Hecht said.
These are not self-supporting Hecht said. If they were
no one could afford to pay for the services.
The city reduced many other activities in the past, such as city-owned cars, but there are only so many services it can cut, Wiehl said.
Other areas of the budget such as streets, the community center and recreation also would take a hit with OU budget cuts.
After the general fund, the budget for the streets would lose the most, according to the auditor's calculations.
We hope the economy will pull out of the slump
Wiehl said.
Until the economy improves, the city will have to cut services and raise rates on existing services, such as the bus fares, which have increased from $1 to $1.50 in the past year, he said.
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Alex Stuckey
