Has any city official explained the failure to predict a revenue decline as the economy faltered?
It seems irresponsible to start a police training class and then announce before it is finished that there is no money to hire the class. City Auditor Hugh J. Dorrian, long considered a pessimist when it comes to revenue estimates, warned of tough times long before September’s Wall Street collapse. He has downgraded estimates three times since as the economy worsened. In June 2008, Dorrian warned of a $75 million budget gap looming for the coming year. The class of Columbus police recruits who nearly lost their jobs began training in July. The gap grew to $83 million by the time Mayor Michael B. Coleman submitted his 2009 spending in November. The mayor proposed 130 non-police layoffs and canceled police and fire classes scheduled for 2009. The police recruits’ jobs were protected until January, when worse-than-expected year-end numbers required another $13 million in cuts. The class was cut out the general fund but was saved a month later with the city’s first round of federal economi
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