Next City Budget Predicts Slight Revenue Increase

by Gabe BullardRevenues for Metro Government have risen slightly this year, but as WFPL's Gabe Bullard reports, the increase isn't enough to significantly bolster the city's budget.For the last two years, the city has faced declining revenue, and city jobs and services have been cut. An uptick in tax receipts the first four months of this year led analysts to predict a less than 1% increase in revenue for Louisville over the next fiscal year.Mayor Jerry Abramson says that's a positive sign, but the growth isn't enough to prevent shortfalls or offset unavoidable increases in employment and operating costs."So we're still in a situation where we have to be very, very frugal," he says. "We have to be very tight in terms of our commitment to anything new and different. We have to continue to be more efficient in how we develop and deliver services."Abramson will unveil his new budget proposal Thursday afternoon, but he says it will be another in a string of lean spending plans."The hope is that the next mayor and the next council, when they prepare their 2011-2012 budget will see a significant change in the national economy that'll be positive for us in the future," he says.Abramson says the budget will not be as bleak as last year's, which predicted a sharp drop in revenue, but he adds that it's unlikely any of the services that had to be cut as a result will be restored in the near future.