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Editorial: A sensible budget plan for Minneapolis

Mayor Rybak proposes more cops and preventive programs.

Last update: September 25, 2007 - 5:42 PM

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SAFETY FIRST

"This is a common sense budget that puts public safety first, focuses on basic city services and investing in jobs, housing and other strategies that create ladders of opportunity. With this budget, we are showing that Minneapolis is a city that works, not only during an emergency but every day of the year.''

Minneapolis Mayor R. T. Rybak

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Minneapolis Mayor R.T. Rybak's 2008 budget proposal puts primary focus exactly where it should be -- on public safety. Incidents such as the recent shooting of a 12-year-old girl and the brutal murder of a bicyclist have kept crime concerns on the public radar screen.

In his budget speech this week, the mayor pointed out that crime is down overall in the city, but that more must be done to fight the rise of youth violence. The two suspects arrested in the Saturday shooting of 12-year-old Vernice Hall are teenagers. And last year, 11 of the city's 60 homicide victims were younger than 18. Rybak's emphasis on safety shows an understanding that if youth crime continues to rise, all the other investments in the city could be for naught.

To that end, the mayor's proposed 2008 budget calls for raising public safety spending from $192 million to $200 million, about a 4 percent increase. That amount would add 18 police officers to the force and include more money for firefighting, emergency functions and other safety-related programs. Staff would be added to respond to 911 calls, and precinct-based prosecutors would be added to help resolve cases more quickly.

A stronger police presence on the street certainly helps fight crime. But as the mayor has acknowledged, even doubling the police force could not put a cop on every scene when something happens. Nor can officers alone get at the root causes that lay the groundwork for increased violent crime.

That's why the budget plan wisely includes preventive and community-maintenance programs. Because of the recent increases in youth violence, some of the additional funding would go to working on truancy, curfew violations and gang graffiti, and for buses to transport youth to community programs.

In addition to public safety, Rybak's budget rightly emphasizes improving the city's economy and infrastructure. The mayor wants to spend more than $11 million in workforce development and $6 million over the next five years to repair city-owned bridges.

It is no surprise that local taxes would rise to pay for these investments. City tax and utility fees would go up 8.6 percent, or about $167 for the average $225,000 home.

That is consistent with the mayor's disciplined, successful five-year plan to pay off debt accumulated during the 1990s while holding percentage tax increases in the single digits. Paying down the city's debt by more than $85 million since 2002 means that the city has $7.6 million more annually to use for city services.

The final city budget will be adopted in December. Mayor Rybak has outlined a solid foundation from which to begin budget talks with citizens and the City Council.

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