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Portage City Council: Questions and answers

By Kalamazoo Gazette staff

October 11, 2009, 6:05AM

CLICK A QUESTION TO SEE THE CANDIDATES' ANSWERS
1. What should be the No. 1 priority of the next Portage City Council? 2. Declining property values are creating serious budget problems for Portage, and shortfalls for other communities. Recognizing that most of the budget goes to employee salaries, specifically what services would you cut or what revenues would you increase? 3. What qualifies you to serve on the Portage City Council? 4. The council has recently looked at its industrial tax-break policy and questioned if it should be changed. Do you favor the current policy or would you prefer to see changes made? 5. The city has maintained the same millage level for several years. In today’s tough economic times, should the city consider having a millage election to increase the general fund budget levy of 7.5 mills? 6. Portage has been proud of not laying off city workers to deal with declining revenue, instead relying on retirements and attrition for a smaller staff size. Does it appear layoffs might be needed, though, to balance the next budget in 2010? 7. The recent council has said that it feels it is offering a “transparent” government process that is open and responsive to residents’ concerns, from dealings with city staff to bringing matters to the council. Do you agree? 8. Substance abuse involving young people has been identified as a big concern in recent years in Portage. Do you believe the city has addressed that issue and, if not, what should it do? 9. What do you see as the biggest problem Portage must deal with in the coming year, and how would you deal with it?

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