Pepper Pike's Finances

Two articles have come out in the last several days about the finances in Pepper Pike. You can read yesterday's Chagrin Solon Sun article here and last week's Chagrin Valley Times article here.

Council and the mayor comprise only eight of the more than 5000 residents of Pepper Pike.  And even with a good-sized Long Range/Strategic Planning Committee in place to increase the number of us working on the issues detailed in those articles, that still leaves a few thousand good brains and talent untapped.  If you were mayor or a council member, what ideas would you suggest and/or pursue?

Lest you think Pepper Pike is alone in its struggles, read this article, Municipal Budget Mess.  A snippet:

A recent report from the National League of Cities projects a grim financial situation for many municipal governments during the next three years. According to the report the municipal sector "likely faces a combined, estimated shortfall of anywhere from $56 billion to $83 billion from 2010-2012." Such shortfalls will be "driven by declining tax revenues, ongoing service demands and cuts in state revenues". Facing large deficits, cities around the nation may be forced to "cure revenue declines and spending pressures with higher service fees, layoffs, unpaid furloughs, and drawing on reserves or canceling infrastructure projects".
The National League of Cities' report, "City Budget Shortfalls and Responses: Projections for 2010-2012" can be seen in this pdf. (Pepper Pike has belonged to the NLC over the years but it has been mentioned as an affiliation that might be dropped.)

No comments: