RUTLAND, Vt. (WCAX) – Rutland’s mayor on Thursday detailed his $26 million spending plan for the Marble City. It comes as a potential challenger emerges for his seat next year.
“Rutland city operates on a pretty shoestring budget. And the way I like to say it is we’ve operated on a shoestring budget and our shoestrings are torn and tattered. When you get the tax bill it doesn’t feel like it,” said Rutland Mayor Mike Doenges.
He says the first draft of Rutland’s budget comes in over $26 million, a roughly six percent increase over last year. “I do know there were some preferences on the board as to what direction we wanted to go and I wanted to give them options, so I actually expect to see the budget come in around 4% or less,” Doenges said.
The mayor says the plan increases the number of police officers in the city and adds an assistant city attorney to help reduce outside counsel costs.
“If I was presenting the budget, I would present the best most cost-effective budget that I believe the voters would pass,” said Rutland Alderman Henry Heck. a potential challenger to the mayor’s seat next year. “In the administrations I worked for, the mayor presented the budget he felt was going to be best for the citizens and himself.”
Heck is in his second stint on the board after years of serving as a committee member and city clerk. He says he felt a new energy in the air when he first announced he intended to run for mayor on election night. “But I also knew as clerk there would be five to six thousand voters that would be out there. It was the best bang for the buck campaign kick-off that I think I could have. Believe you me — it was well received,” he said.
A budget committee will present its final recommendations to the full Board of Alderman in the coming weeks.