Mount Vernon Mayor Clinton Young handed out a written statement to city residents and press at a hearing last night for the 2009 budget, pledging to bring down total spending before the budget is passed. The $87.4 million spending plan is up $3.5 million from this year, largely due to an increase in salaries for city employees, and would mean a 13.2 percent increase in taxes.

Here’s the full statement:

“Heading into tonight’s Board of Estimate & Contract Public Hearing on the 2009 Proposed Budget, I want to send a clear message for the coming year, “Restore, Restructure, Rebuild.”

There is no denying that our country is experiencing difficult economic times. Our city has bore a fair share of that burden, having seen record-high foreclosures, tumbling property values, and increased unemployment.

When I gave my first State of the City Address, I promised that I would not sugar-coat and run from any of the issues facing this city. I could never say that everything is great, when you and I both know that it is not. When I took office in January, I inherited a city whose infrastructure was crumbling beneath our feet: our buildings had been in desperate need of repair, our garbage trucks had been rotting away for years, and our firehouses had been declared unsafe to be inhabited. Now is the time to draw a line in the sand. Now is the time to reinvest into our city’s future and restore the basic services this city needs to provide.

The initial proposed budget is a working document and calls for a 13.17 percent increase. You, as residents, should know that I do not support this budget in its current form. This number must go down significantly before the budget is passed in its final form. I have met with every single commissioner and department head to cut spending in their departments. I am going to do my best to make sure no one loses their job, but necessary personnel cuts may have to be made. In addition, further evaluation of the revenue side of this budget is going to be required. Concrete justifications are going to have to be given where reductions in revenue have been projected.

Two items that have the most detrimental effect on the 2009 Budget are contractual raises for personnel and the decreased valuation of property in the city, a phenomenon not exclusive to Mount Vernon. Prior negotiated union contracts call for across-the-board salary increases amounting to an overall impact of $3.7 million. On the revenue side of the budget, city property valuations have decreased by $3.5 million.

Please know that these are not excuses to increase your taxes; they are realities of the situation our city has been driven into. I cannot emphasize enough that this is the first budget that is going to put our city back on the right track.

I want you to know that during this year, I have instituted internal controls, a system that has, so far, reduced spending by $1.5 million outside of salaries, wages, and benefits compared to the 2008 Adopted Budget. We foresaw much of this, and as we prepare the 2009 Budget we fully understand what we will face in preparation for the 2010 Budget.

In addition to the traditional infrastructure maintenance issues we are faced with, my administration has found our city is so far behind in the use of technology. The lack of new technology has not only made providing services more difficult, but it has made it more costly. It is imperative to bring our government into the 21st century, so that we can provide services more efficiently. We will also be able to generate more revenue for the city through online bill payments, payment of parking tickets, building department permit fees, etc.

The vision of Mount Vernon that I know many of us share is one greater than the one we have right now. We are all faced with challenges, but my promise to you is that you will see our city do better by this time next year, and in the years to come. Mount Vernon will be the comeback story that emerges from these difficult times in our country’s history.”