Ferguson to Increase Police Ticketing to Close City’s Budget Gap
To close a projected deficit for fiscal 2014, which ended June 30, the municipality will deplete a $10 million capital-projects reserve, Jeffrey Blume, Ferguson’s finance director, said in a telephone interview. For the current year, the city is budgeting for higher receipts from police-issued tickets.
“There are a number of things going on in 2014 and one is a revenue shortfall that we anticipate making up in 2015,” Blume said.
“There’s about a million-dollar increase in public-safety fines to make up the difference.”
Revenue from violations, which already represents the city’s second-largest source of cash after sales taxes, will rise to 15.7 percent of receipts in fiscal 2015, from a projected 11.8 percent this year, he said. In 2013, fines brought in $2.2 million, or 11.8 percent of the city’s $18.62 million in annual revenue, according to budget documents.
Last Reserve
Even with the increased ticketing, a $4.09 million revenue shortfall will remain for fiscal 2015. The city will bridge that gap by drawing on its $10.3 million unassigned reserve, the last of its reserve funds, Blume said. Moody’s Investors Service cited an inability to maintain reserves at satisfactory levels as a potential downgrade trigger in a report from December 2012http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2014-12-12/ferguson-to-increase-police-ticketing-to-close-city-s-budget-gap.html.
In plain language:
"that shit we pulled of ripping off citizens for spurious tickets, we're gonna do more of it"
= new reply since forum marked as read
Floggings will continue until morale improves.
I listened to the broadcast "town hall meetings" following Michael Brown's murder ... even theough the "powers that be" in fergusen were there ... they clearly did NOT listen
The residents of Ferguson have surely been thinking the police have been too easy on them all this time 
Apparently there are over 21,000 people, which makes it a pretty densely populated place.
But still; geesh... The Ferguson Police Department has an annual budget of $5,282,900!
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ferguson_Police_Department_(Missouri)
I couldn't find numbers for other paid city employees, but I wonder if they are just as bloated? What else could explain their needing $18.6 million if it is just for the usual necessary services for 21,000 people residing in 6 sq miles?
Is it just me, or does that seem like a lot?
