Early Voting Starts Wednesday!

Each time we have an election that includes charter amendments, I am often asked to describe their merits. This year (thankfully) we only have two to consider.

The first amendment pertains to when the budget is delivered to Metro Council and the public. The wording is a little difficult but basically it says that the Mayor will deliver to Council (and hence the public) no later than May 1 the operating budget for the next fiscal year.

The background: Prior to 2006, the Metro operating budget was delivered on May 25th. Since our fiscal year ends on June 30 and since the Mayor's budget will become law if Council fails to pass an alternative by that date, Council had about 5 weeks to consider how we spend $1.5 billion dollars. This program worked well from 1963 until 2006 when Council got irritated and sponsored a charter amendment to move the date back to March 25.

The upside was that Council now had over 3 months to consider the budget. The downside was that Metro Finance had to predict revenues with more lead time. The longer lead time worked OK for FY08 but FY09 may prove to be a bit gamier. Shared state revenues have fallen faster than the Dow Jones Industrial Average and we are now in a downward spiral few predicted with any accuracy. Bottom line: it doesn't help to have more time for Council to consider the budget if the information they are considering is inaccurate. So, moving the date to May 1 won't do any harm and it may do some good.

The second amendment pertains to term limits for Council members that serve to complete the unexpired term of another resigned or deceased council member. This amendment also clarifies that the office of Councilmember-at-large and District Councilmember are two different offices. Since this amendment may affect me personally, I won't express an opinion but I will tell you why we are even having this debate.

As some people interpret term limit law, two terms does not necessarily mean two full terms. Others (including, as I understand it a court of law) say that an unexpired term of another elected official does not count as a term. So we have a lack or clarity that Council has asked the voters to fix. Vote no if you think that two terms means one term plus any part of another term. Vote yes if you think two terms means two full four year term.

Just let me know if you have any questions.