Wednesday, May 6, 2009

Council Subcommittee Recommends 50% Cut From 2008 Town Financial Support

A town council subcommittee consisting of Salette Latas & Bill Garner met with 18 organizations seeking Oro Valley money.

The result? The recommendation was to cut more than 50% from last year's budget, bringing the number of donated funds down to $237,716.

Of this amount, although decreased dramatically, is $72,000 to The Metropolitan Tucson Convention & Visitors Bureau & $24,000 to TREO.

Good idea, but the question we ask is this: "What are we getting in return for almost $100,000, and might this money get a better return some where else?"

It will be interesting to see what the council decides when this issue is brought forward.

Read The Explorer article here, including the recommended list of donations.
http://www.explorernews.com/articles/2009/05/06/news/doc4a00c22da3870400440118.txt

2 comments:

Victorian Cowgirl said...

I'm happy to hear that they're considering cutting this budget approx. 50%, but I would like more information on the following three organizations that are still on the list for a total of $106,000 in donations:

$72,000 - Tucson Convention and Visitors Bureau

$24,000 - TREO

$10,000 - Project Graduation

How do these organizations/entities intend to spend these funds?

How will these donations benefit Oro Valley?

DMilliken said...

Victorian Cowgirl has hit it! What is the return on Oro Valley dollars funneled any group left on the list, targeting the largest expenses is a start. And how did the list get so long in the first place?

I personally give to a couple charitable groups that I have found with low expenses and great return to the causes/individuals they support. This is an individual decision that I can afford and is a way I can express my support to these causes.

To me this becomes an issue when it comes to the city choosing who to contribute our tax payer funds. As individual’s we have the right to spend our money as we see fit. However the city should responsibly spend those funds in a manner that benefits the constituents.
Remember the only reason why we are even looking at this now is because of a budget shortfall. Some didn’t even table looking at these expenses until the realization that there was no support to increase taxes to supplement this and other spending.