BY LISA DONOVAN
The Cincinnati Enquirer
Cincinnati City Council will delay approval of the city's 1999-2000 $1.8 billion budget until January.
City officials will have to pass several temporary funding measures to get through at least the first month of the year.
While that will keep the city operating, there may be a brief delay in some projects funded through the capital improvements budget, new finance committee chairwoman Minette Cooper said. If the budget is delayed much beyond that, there could be problems, said Deputy City Manager Richard Mendes.
"If it goes beyond that, it affects cash flow on major projects - it affects new project starts, " Mr. Mendes said.
City Budget Director William Moller said several human services programs could be hit by the delay, including the Center for Comprehensive Alcoholism Treatment Inc., which requested $298,620 in 1999.
The delay comes the same week that Mrs. Cooper takes over the finance committee, which shepherds the budget process, and Councilman Paul Booth was sworn in. Both take their new positions in the wake of Councilman Dwight Tillery's resignation in November. Term limits prevent Mr. Tillery from running again in 1999.
Mrs. Cooper said the shift on council as well as the late delivery of the city manager's biennial budget proposal prompted her to delay final action.
