Council President Urges Members to Donate Discretionary Funds

Metro Councilman Jim King is giving up ten-percent of his Neighborhood Development Funds to help the city fill a twenty-million dollar budget gap – and he’s hoping other council members will follow suit.The Neighborhood Development Funds are a $175,000 discretionary fund council members get each year to use for projects in their district. Council President Jim King has committed $17,500 dollars from his discretionary fund and thinks each of the remaining 25 council members will also make contributions, though in different amounts.King says some of them may want to make sure their money is used to restore specific services that have been cut."I don’t think it complicates it at all," says King, "and I think when you’re talking about discretionary spending from council districts, its important that council members have an understanding of where the money is going to be used."If they all contribute ten-percent of their discretionary funds, it would add about $450,000 to the city’s General Fund.