Cincinnati Mayor John Cranley has used his veto power to fix what a council ordinance he believes would have resulted in a structurally unbalanced city budget.
On Wednesday, council voted 5-4 to reject a plan from City Manager Harry Black to boot cars with three or more unpaid parking tickets, a move that would have generated $600,000 for the city.
In Black's proposal, that money would be replaced with a $600,000 withdrawal from the urban development fund.
On Friday morning, Cranley released a statement saying that he shared Vice Mayor David Mann's concern about the "Paylock" car-booting system and worked with him to find a solution.
The ordinance was rejected Wednesday because it was using a one-time source of cash.
Cranley said that, on Monday, he will introduce an ordinance that "formally designates the $400,000 allocated for the homeowner's assistance fund and the $200,000 allocated for the heroin task force (both items I proposed) as one-time expenses."
Council's finance committee will consider the ordinance at a special meeting Monday and it will be up for approval at Wednesday's council meeting.
Mann said he led the charge to stop the administration from passing the car-booting ordinance because it would give "a financial incentive to a private company to use computer imaging for vehicles to boot."
"Under Mayor Cranley's proposal, people who park in Cincinnati will not be faced with Paylock boots and fines,'' Mann said in a written statement. "Mayor Cranley's ordinance also keeps the budget structurally balanced, so it is a win-win for the people of Cincinnati."
