City Manager Tom Bonfield said this morning that the city administration does not expect a hike in the tax rate next year.

So far.

"There is nothing being contemplated at this point," he said. "I'm not saying it's not a possibility."

City authorities will issue a statement Thursday morning on the status of Alesha Robinson-Taylor, the Durham Police officer who improperly claimed $60,000 worth of overtime.

"We're not really ready to release anything on that," City Manager Tom Bonfield said Wednesday afternoon when asked about an unconfirmed tip that Robinson-Taylor has been fired.

City officials had withheld comment on her status, citing state personnel regulations, since announcing Sept. 30 that an audit showed Robinson-Taylor's claim was "not justifiable or reasonable."

The audit also found that the police administration had been lax in oversight on overtime pay and that high-level officers, including Chief Jose Lopez, failed to adequately respond when they learned in April how much Robinson-Taylor was claiming.

Deputy Chief B.J. Council is on leave until her early retirement Jan. 1. The State Bureau of Investigation has been investigating whether criminal charges should be brought in the case.

DURHAM -- A city audit has found at least $60,000 in overtime paid to a Durham police officer "was not justifiable or reasonable" and that lax oversight by department officials contributed to the abuse.

Deputy Chief B.J. Council, who signed off on the overtime, will retire as of Dec. 31, Police Chief Jose Lopez said this afternoon. Beginning Monday, Council will be on personal leave until the end of the year. She is a 31-year veteran of the Durham police, Lopez said.

There's a new page at the city's Web site, all about budgets.

In particular, the current 2008-'09 budget and the upcoming 2009-'10 budget, both of which are faced with shortfalls in the revenue department thanks to the ongoing recession.

The new page, www.durhamnc.gov/citybudget, describes the city's current fiscal situation and what the city's doing about it; and the policies for making spending plans next year. The '09-'10 fiscal year starts July 1, and City Manager Tom Bonfield is due to go public with his budget proposal May 18.

In a prepared statement, the city quotes Bonfield: “We need our citizens to be fully informed on what we’re doing and why.  We also need to hear from them."

There's a link for viewers to submit their thoughts.

A presentation on the city's budget cuts this morning was — no surprise — dire again. The city needs to whack another $1.7 miilion out of the current year's spending, and next year is stiil presenting a gap of $24 million to $40 million between projected income and outgo.

But one item got councilman Howard Clement's dander up.

$35,889.

With the city facing a $5.5 million revenue shortfall and the economic news continuing bad, Durham City Manager Tom Bonfield opened today's city budget retreat on a cautionary note.

"This budget will be the most challenging of anyone's career in this room," he said to a gathering of council members, department heads and other city employees at Durham Technical Community College.

"Budgeting as we have done it in the past is not an option," he said, but the present economic climate affords a chance for "changing our paradigms" and "challenging our comfort zones."

Warning the audiences that some recommendations for 2009-'10 "are not going to sit well" with council members, city employees or citizens, Bonfield said it is "critical that the public understand where we are. ... It is important we be transparent about it.

"It all boils down to choices," he said. "It's a zero-sum game."

Citizens' opportunities to weigh in on next year's budget begin Feb. 14 with the first Coffee With Council meeting, 10 a.m. to noon at the Campus Hills Recreation Center on Alston Avenue.

Barring City Council action, Durham's annual Employee Appreciation Luncheon will proceed as scheduled Feb. 10.

City Manager Tom Bonfield made the call in response to a memo last week from city councilman Eugene Brown suggesting the lunch be cancelled and honored employees get $100 each to save the taxpayers money.

Replying to Brown, Bonfield said the luncheon budget is $18,805 and that city operations continue as usual through the 2.5-hour event. Brown had estimated the cost at $45,000, counting direct expense and lost productivity.

Calling off the lunch, Bonfield wrote, would cost about $6,000 in a cancellation fee to the Marriott hotel, which has been booked for some time already. Facility rental and food costs are estimated at $7,695 for the 345 invited employees, and $7,170 for retirees' watches.

"Absent direction otherwise from the majority of the city council I believe it is appropriate to proceed with the employee recognition event," Bonfield concluded.

The City of Durham has about 2,300 employees, according to Chamber of Commerce figures.

City Manager Tom Bonfield told Bull's Eye the other day that he's withholding full disclosure on the city's money situation until next Friday's City Council financial retreat.

But he did say, "The numbers are certainly getting worse." And there are some indications of the word to come in the talking points prepared for Bonfield's visit to the Triangle Community Coalition's annual meeting today.

The City of Durham is facing a revenue shortfall falling deeper all the time. So, the other day, city councilman Eugene Brown sent City Hall a memo to suggest cancelling the annual Employee Recognition Luncheon to save some money.

About $45,000, he figured, counting food, gifts, space rental and lost productivity.

"The response I got from downtown, to Durham taxpayers, is: 'Let them eat cake,' " Brown said today.

Not to appear ungrateful, Brown had also suggested each honored employee (there are 218 this year, he said) get $100 cash. They would, however, have to attend a City Council meeting to get it.

City Manager Tom Bonfield said Wednesday afternoon he had not talked with Brown about the lunch, but contracts for the event have probably been signed for a long time already, he said. So at this point, it appears the affair — institution of more than two decades' standing — will go on as usual Feb. 10.

"It's tough to change government," Brown said.

City water customers will notice something new when they get their next bills. The format has been redesigned to make it easier to read and "contain a lot more information," City Manager Tom Bonfield told the City Council tonight.

Residents should start getting the new, improved bills next week.

Redesigned bills are one result of "a modernized utility billing system," Bonfield said. The new system actually went live Tuesday, Bonfield said, replacing "a mainframe solution developed more than 30 years ago."

Bonfield particularly commended Billy Herring, of the city technical department, and Bob Mace, of finance, for their work implementing the new system.