As both the Post and the Gazette have reported, County Executive Ike Leggett has proposed a list of budget cuts to offset possible repeal of the ambulance fee by the voters. The council seems unlikely to adopt any cuts prior to the fate of the ambulance fee referendum is known, but this is the first blueprint of what may happen if the fee is rejected.
The newspapers have quoted extensively from Leggett’s transmission memo, but these sentences are worth repeating. “I have asked those whose actions have made these service cuts necessary; what expenditure reductions or revenue increases would they suggest to offset the loss of $14.1 million in continuing and growing revenues each year to the County budget?” Leggett wrote. “I previously posed this question to some Councilmembers back in August, but I am still waiting for a response.”
Following is a list of all cuts recommended by the Executive in the event that the fee is repealed.
