Special Board of Aldermen 6-13-2022 Page 16
It was a hypothetical question just to try to make it easy because we’ve been dancing around this a lot about what to
exclude, what not to exclude.
Steve Bolton, Corporation Counsel
Well then | don’t understand your question. (inaudible) you don’t have the authority to do it.
Alderman Sullivan
What | am saying is if you had the general fund to make it simple, you would just say the general fund cannot exceed
that 2.8% number year over year and that’s it just be done with it. That would be your spending cap.
Steve Bolton, Corporation Counsel
But that has to be done by a change to the Charter.
Alderman Sullivan
| understand that. | was asking what would be the down side of doing that my hypothetical question.
Steve Bolton, Corporation Counsel
| guess you could get into an argument about what should be included in the general fund or not. So you might have
to think about what kind of definition you apply to that. But if you wish to propose that as a Charter amendment, |
don’t see much of an impediment to that.
Alderman Sullivan
| don’t. | was just questioning why.
President Wilshire
All set Alderman Sullivan?
Alderman Sullivan
Yes.
Alderman Klee
Thank you Madam President. In 56C that last paragraph that was kind of bounced around that said, “This provision
shall not prevent the Mayor and the Board of Aldermen from appropriately funding any programs or accounts
mandated to be paid from municipal funds by State and federal law”, perhaps it’s just my interpretation but | feel that
this was put in so that the City can’t say well we spent all our money and now we can’t afford to do this otherwise it’s
going to put us over the spending cap. Therefore, this was put in there that says you basically will pay those bills first
and the rest of your bills last. Is that a correct interpretation Attorney Bolton?
Steve Bolton, Corporation Counsel
That is certainly one possible interpretation.
Alderman Klee
| feel that | take it that way. It’s kind of like we can’t go bankrupt on any kind of a — a person can’t go bankrupt in a
federal obligation so | take it in that respect that you pay your federal and State bills first.
The other comment that | kind of wanted to make. Two comments. One is when this was written, | understand that
there was some sitting Aldermen that wrote it but was it a citizens group that created this that went through the
Secretary of State or did it actually come from the Board of Aldermen?
Steve Bolton, Corporation Counsel
