THUMB AWARD CITY COUNCIL TRIES HIGHER MATH

Thumbs Down to the Dallas City Council for passing a budget that invents new concepts akin to imaginary numbers and the universe folding in on itself. After promising a tax increase of no more than 5 per cent, the council passed one of nearly 13 per cent. In an apparent desire to test councilman Max Goldblatt’s theory that Dallas will support mass transit only when it falls apart, the council passed a 10 per cent fare hike that promises to further depress ridership. The council seemed unable to grasp the budget intricacies like the city manager’s “worker years.” Consumer Affairs was supposed to transfer 4.6 worker years to Action Center in the new budget. Action Center had 5.1 years in the old budget and only seven worker years in the new budget. What happened to the other 1.7 years? City Manager George Schrader told the council: “You don’t understand how worker years works.” Or a lot of other things in the budget. Who knows what secrets lurk in the heart of the city budget? Only the Schrader knows. And he’s leaving.