At the final meeting for Republican county council members John McBlain, Colleen Morrone and Michael Culp, the three passed a $358 million budget.
Democratic county councilmen Brian Zidek and Kevin Madden voted against the budget. As Madden puts it, the GOP would rather dip into the reserve fund rather than actually balance the budget. "An outgoing majority, Republican majority, that has artificially held the line on taxes for the last six years, meanwhile building a budgetary deficit," Madden said of his reasons to vote against the budget, also citing what he called a significant commitment to capital expenditures over the next three years.
But outgoing chairman McBlain says it’s Democrats playing the games as the county regularly runs a surplus, adding Democrats wanted a tax hike. "When they begin their terms in office, not only would there be a $65 million surplus at their hands but there would be additional revenue from a tax increase," he countered.
McBlain added Zidek and Madden had no problem supporting a similar budget in 2018. “This is a very strong budget that we are turning over to the new administration," he said.
But according to Madden, once three new council members are sworn in next month and Democrats have the majority for the first time since the Civil War—a 5-0 majority at that—they’ll take a closer look at the budget, though he says any changes would be cost-cutting, not a tax increase.
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