News-Record.com

Monday night city council members will roll up their sleeves and get into the budget debate. And yet another key decision may come down to a few swing votes on the council.

Councilman Robbie Perkins is working to undo a uneasy 5-4 council decision to not increase the city's tax rate next year. He's going to propose a tax increase of about a penny.

Councilwoman Trudy Wade, who has been brainstorming all kinds of ways the city could save money, put the "hold the line" tax rate on the table earlier this spring.

Council members Mike Barber, Mary Rakestraw, Zack Matheny and Sandra Anderson Groat voted to keep the taxes flat. Council members Perkins, T. Dianne Bellamy-Small, Goldie Wells and Mayor Yvonne Johnson voted against the measure.

Later, a majority of council agreed upon enough budget cuts to make the "no new taxes" plan a reality.

But the uneasy truce started to show cracks when Greensboro residents picked apart the budget. Should we really put off paving 12 miles of roadways to save $2 million, when the same work may cost much more money the following year? What about those flower beds the city plans to abandon to save $400,000 on landscaping costs?

Enter Perkins, who was skeptical about this "hold the line" business from the beginning. He says the city will pay for this planned one-year relief in taxes.

Assuming Perkins can get Johnson, Wells and Bellamy-Small on his side again, his only obstacle is that crucial fifth vote.

Here's how Mayor Pro Tem Sandra Anderson Groat or Councilman Zack Matheny could become the most important people in city government.

Both can be council wild cards. Matheny, a first term councilman, is still working out his positions on various issues. When the "no new taxes" issue first arose, Matheny said he was interested in exploring ways to save money. He wanted to see whether the city could do it effectively.

WIth Matheny on vaca and unreachable this week, I can't say whether he is considering Perkin's arguments.

As for Groat, she is decidedly on the fence right now. Being a builder and a business owner, she has experienced the current economic downturn first hand. She said the city needs to cut back when citizens cut back.

On the other hand, she understands that delaying things like street paving may cost everyone more later.

There's no telling whether other council members might reconsider their stance on the issue. But clearly Groat and Matheny will be the ones to watch as the budget debate continues.