King Says Budget Process May Be Smoother Under New Mayor

One of the first challenges for new Mayor Greg Fischer will be to put together a city budget for the next fiscal year. But Fischer appears to be open to asking for assistance from the city's legislative branch.The budget will likely come up in the council in May or early June. In previous years, Mayor Abramson drafted the budget, then presented it to the council for revisions. Council President Jim King says Mayor Fischer has expressed an interest in working with the council even in the early stages of the budget. King says a more open process will make the council's task of amending and approving the budget go much smoother."We could maybe focus a little bit more on the actual running of the city and not trying to figure out where the debits and credits are," says King.King says he's also looking forward to working with the mayor on proposed improvements to merged government. Aside from the budget, one of the council's main tasks this year will be to redraw its districts to reflect population shifts shown in the 2010 Census.