ANCHORAGE — Mayor Dan Sullivan on Friday snipped a tad more than $174,000 from the $421.4 million municipal budget passed by the Anchorage Assembly this week, vetoing last-minute additions for arts and cultural service grants and library services.
He let stand about $600,000 in additions included in a compromise package worked out earlier by Assembly members Patrick Flynn and Jennifer Johnston, and another amendment passed Tuesday that restores People Mover bus service next spring on two holidays -- Martin Luther King Jr. Day and Presidents Day -- at a combined cost of about $75,000.
The final budget means the elimination of nearly 200 city jobs. Between 55 and 60 of those are currently filled, Sullivan said, and employees will be laid off in coming weeks.
Sullivan announced the vetoes at an afternoon press conference, targeting a $124,330 appropriation for the additional grants and $50,000 for libraries that would have added hours of operation for branch libraries in Girdwood and Eagle River.
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