During the public forums at the last city council meeting, Ron Rualt, a Burlington resident, spoke up regarding the city’s budget. He spoke of the $1-2 million deficit in the budget being a major problem. He stated that Burlington is similar to Newark, NJ in that it has too many non-profits (over 1/3 of the city is non-profit, non-taxable). He stated that the city needs to cut expenditures and that the city cannot afford projects such as Moran Plant and Goss Court Armory. He suggested that the city should consider asking UVM to have their accounting/finance professors and students study the budget and submit a report (voluntarily) of what should be done with suggestions and recommendations.
I thought his comments are right on. We do need to come back to reality and realize we do not have the resources as a city to continue with these grand projects and plans we have in the works. We need to scale back and get our finances under control and we should open up the books to the public and get input from anyone who may be willing to help with good financial/accounting skills that is not biased.
