Iorio speaks of tough times

TAMPA -- Tampa Mayor Pam Iorio said today that the "state of the city is good" in her annual address, but not before acknowledging tension with the City Council and the need for budget cuts and layoffs.

Speaking to an overflow audience in a convention center ballroom, Iorio pledged to try to find jobs in city  government for employees who lose their jobs while trimming expenses without affecting services to the public.

Preliminary figures show the city needs to cut $17-million from next year's budget to accommodate declining revenues from property taxes.

"Times are difficult. We all know that," Iorio said. "Your character is judged by how you deal with the tough times."

She said she is planning to spend $400-million in the next two years on capital improvements such as a new art museum and water pipes. Funding for those projects, she said, comes from sources earmarked for construction, not property taxes that pay for operating expenses.

"When this economy turns around, we're going to be in an even better position to invite more investment in this community," she said.

-- Janet Zink,  Times staff writer

Comments

[JC]

"Funding for those projects, she said, comes from sources earmarked for construction, not property taxes that pay for operating expenses." Give me a break!

Then pay for operating expenses with these "earmarked funds" rather than property taxes. Give me a break!

Taxpayers don't necessarily want employees fired to get taxes down, but they definitely see no need for large new building projects like a new art museum in an economy like this. Tighten the belt like the rest of us have to! And if you're not welling to do it, let's vote all of you out of office and find people who are! Give me a break!