Yoon, Flaherty vote 'no' on city budget

By Michael Levenson, Globe Staff

Councilors Sam Yoon and Michael F. Flaherty, who are running for mayor, cast the only dissenting votes today as the Boston City Council overwhelmingly approved an annual city budget that cuts overall spending for the first time in 15 years.

Sam Yoon

The $2.4 billion budget for Fiscal Year 2010, submitted by Mayor Thomas M. Menino, reduces spending by $26.3 million from last year and triggers the layoff of 496 city employees, including 67 police officers and 74 teachers.

Flaherty's vote against the budget was his first in nine years in office. He said he voted "no" because the Menino administration had failed to justify its spending decisions.

"Too many times, the administration revealed that there was a lack of data that was driving these decisions," Flaherty told his colleagues in the council chambers.

Yoon has voted against every budget in his three years in office. He said the city could have saved millions of dollars by removing its fire-alarm boxes, launching a car-sharing program for city workers, and reining in "unsustainable personnel costs" and "out-of-control overtime costs."

"I don't think it moves the city forward at all," Yoon said. "It keeps the city the same and, in this day and age, that's unacceptable."

Dot Joyce, a Menino spokeswoman, said it was "difficult budget" necessitated, in part, by a $95 million cut in state aid, the city's second largest source of revenue after the property tax.

"While we had to make difficult decisions, this budget protects core services and maintains public safety, educational programs, and maintenance that our residents have come to expect and deserve," she said.