East Lansing will be voting Tuesday to make cuts in the budget.

These cuts may stop the East Lansing Planning Commission meetings from being aired on cable television until the next fiscal year.

The city is making a total of $695,875 in cuts, which may eliminate overtime for the police department and delay plans for city sidewalks.

The cuts were made because statewide sales revenue, which is given to communities in the state, is down, said City Manager Ted Staton.

Staton said he thinks every item on the list will get cut. The only dispute comes from the $45,000 the city pays for commission meetings.

“We have got to cut some public meetings, so in our judgment it might be more wise to cut planning commission rather than city council meetings,” he said.

To make the cuts, the city informed each department of the budget problems and gave suggestions on where the cuts could come from.

Staton said the ultimate decision came from the departments.

Councilmember Vic Loomis said he is comfortable with what has been proposed, but said there might be a way around taking the planning commission off cable television.

He said broadcasting every other meeting might be a solution.

“The planning commission does a lot of important work for the city and it is important to keep them in front of the city,” Loomis said.

Councilmember Beverly Baten said she would like to survey East Lansing residents before making a final decision.

“(The) televising of city council meetings has brought more people into our community,” she said.

Fred Bauries, vice chairman of the planning commission, said the public should contact their councilmember if they are worried.

“The planning commission has been on cable for many years and, as far as I know, a lot of people watch it,” he said.

East Lansing resident Mike Bone chuckled when asked about the cut.

“People that are affected are going to show up,” he said. “They’re going to show up to the actual meeting and not just watch it on television.”

But other cuts to the budget may not have met the same controversy.

John Matuszak, engineering administrator, said the money for new sidewalks was going to come from the city’s general fund.

The $100,000 the city planned to use in the Burcham Drive and Saginaw Street areas to install sidewalks will probably take place next fiscal year.

East Lansing Police Lt. Kim Johnson said overtime seemed to be a reasonable cut for the department.

Johnson said department overtime involves the MSU football season and special events for the city.

State News Staff writer Aaron Johnson contributed to this report.