That’s the worst case scenario for 2011-12, courtesy of the city manager’s office and which the City Council will discuss today (click on the link that says “Budget Workshop #2” for a PDF).
Not to worry, though. The best case scenario is only a $41 million deficit. That’s because, of course, this is The Decade of Dallas. Imagine how much worse it would be if this was The Decade of Altoona, Pa.
It’s too early in the budget process to do more than look at the presentation and hope things get better, in much the same way a poker player tries to draw two cards to a straight when he’s facing three aces. The only thing that seems certain is that the final budget will be somewhere around where it was in 2006-07 — which means we’ve spent five years spending money that we really didn’t have. Which makes my head hurt, actually.