As I type these very words, Mayor Mike McGinn is girding his mayoral loins for a 10:30 presser on "Seattle’s economic performance and its impact on City revenues." In other words, it's a good ol' fashioned
weather
finance forecast! Will the mayor forecast good news? Bad news??? Will the forecast involve a kitschy Cash Cube Money Machine filled with whirling dollar bills and sticky blonds????
The Stranger
Everything about this photo is terrible. Sorry!
Your guess is probably better than mine.
Watch along with me, finance wizards of the internet
. Show's over, nerds.
UPDATE: Here's the short and sweet of it: We're still in a hole, budget-wise, but we're in a shallower hole than anticipated, thanks mostly to an uptick in construction and sales tax revenues—B&O and Real Estate Excise Taxes—which are trending ahead of projections by about $7.6 million.
Overall, the city budge office is forecasting $11.4 million in additional revenue through 2014, which will obviously help close Seattle's projected $32 million budget shortfall. So while city departments will still face roughly $20 million in cuts this fall (and next), McGinn says the city will also be able to invest some in city resources.
"We are not where we were before the great recession hit [but] we will be able to modestly invest in resources. Modestly," he stressed. In other words, McGinn didn't invest in a Cash Cube Money Machine but he might throw quarters at you if you dance for 'em—especially if you happen to be a bus driver or a cop.
McGinn said: "There won't be any surprises as what our priority areas are," while name-checking improvements to transit and public safety.
That's all you'll get for now, budget hounds. The mayor played coy about cuts because he's scheduled to announce the details of his 2013-14 budget on September 24.
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