Minjeong Kim might have to find a new way to satisfy her appetite for books if Gov. John Engler’s tax-revenue cuts stand.
“I love reading,” said Kim, a 6-year-old Whitehills Elementary School student. “I won’t be mad, but I’ll be sad because I couldn’t read books anymore or borrow them.”
If the state legislature doesn’t overturn Engler’s decision cutting revenue-sharing, East Lansing residents might have to live without a community center, library or fire protection for MSU.
East Lansing City Council will discuss possible cuts today at its 2 p.m. meeting in the Executive Conference Room on the second floor of the Hannah Community Center, 819 Abbott Road. The possible budget cuts include closing the East Lansing Public Library, 950 Abbott Road or the community center to make up for the possible $4.6 million deficit the city stands to incur because of the governor’s veto.“It’s going to be detrimental to the city of East Lansing,” Deputy City Manager Jean Golden said. “There’s a huge cut and we’re on a bare-bones budget right now. Everything’s on the table.”
Golden said as many as 90 city jobs could be cut to make up for the shortfall.
Meanwhile Lt. Gov. Dick Posthumus and other GOP leaders have joined several Democrats by voicing their opposition to Engler’s veto Friday, but to overturn the veto, two-thirds of the Legislature is needed. The lawmakers are expected to reconvene to consider that proposal Aug. 13.If lawmakers cannot get the two-thirds majority as chamber leaders expect they can, there is still a chance Engler will go back on his decision. Engler said he will give the money back to state communities if three initiatives concerning Michigan’s tobacco settlement fail to win voter approval in the Nov. 5 general election.
The three proposals aim to reassign 90 percent of settlement money to health care initiatives, allow state workers to unionize and emphasize treatment, not incarceration, for drug offenders.
The governor said that won’t happen if voters choose wisely on Election Day, Engler spokesman Matt Resch said. The state stands to lose $1 billion if all the proposals pass.
“The bottom line is, and I think East Lansing officials are seeing this, if the three ballots pass, they will have huge consequences for the state,” Resch said.
City officials are covering their bases and are scrambling to figure out how to repair a potential financial conundrum.
If Engler’s veto stands, the city council will hold a public hearing before making any final decisions, Councilmember Bill Sharp said.
“I think it would be tragic if we would have to close the Senior Center,” Sharp said of the 1-year-old center. “I’d like to keep it around for a while.”
Senior center aside, other council members fear consequences will be so severe , East Lansing’s public safety will be at risk.
Money from the 16 percent cut would have gone primarily to the city’s police and fire departments, and makes more than half of the $50 million budget for 2003, Golden said.
Local leaders say they are doing what they can to save the city’s resources. Writing to state legislators is just one way to have your voice heard said East Lansing Public Library Board of Trustees president Babs Krause.
“A library is an integral part of a community,” she said. “The closing of it would be an irreparable loss. That cannot happen.”
Lansing resident Ruth Smith said she goes to the Senior Center twice a week to play cards with her friends and hopes the Legislature will overturn Engler’s veto so she doesn’t have to worry about finding a new venue for the games.
“It’s awful they would close a senior center,” Smith said. “(Engler’s) been an idiot for eight years. He’s going to leave it to the new governor to figure it out.”
Kristofer Karol can be reached at karolkri@msu.edu.
