The following excerpts are taken from the Indianapolis Star. Perhaps if Indianapolis Mayor Greg Ballard had read them before promising to cut $70 million in “fluff” from the city budget, he wouldn’t have made that promise in the first place. The budget he inherited has been slashed to the max. Now what?

After being criticized for exaggerating a series of proposed spending cuts, Mayor Bart Peterson has responded with a series of new cuts in virtually every city department.

The mayor’s office announced $9.1 million in cost-saving measures Friday. That figure is significant because it surpasses the $8.7 million in accounting changes that Peterson touted as part of a budget-tightening package last week.

- August 2, 2003

Mayor Bart Peterson will propose sweeping changes to city and county government today in a plan that would expand his powers, create a new police force, merge fire departments and abolish most township offices.

The plan, which includes the most comprehensive changes suggested for Indianapolis and Marion County government since the creation of Uni-Gov 34 years ago, is needed to avoid “massive tax increases” and layoffs, Peterson said.

Besides increasing efficiency and making the mayor more accountable, the city estimates the proposal could save local taxpayers $35 million annually — more than 4 percent of all city and county spending.

- August 2, 2004

Unveiling a sweeping plan to trim government spending by $28 million, Mayor Bart Peterson announced Wednesday a series of budget cuts that range from reducing the police force to closing city pools early this summer.

For most residents, the changes will be subtle, but the long-term effect could eat deep into the core of the state’s largest city and erode a quality of life that has thrived for decades.

“Some of the shine and some of the polish is going to go off our city,” Peterson said. “It’s going to be a little duller, and it’s going to be a little less nice. If that goes on for four or five years, people start to notice.”

- June 30, 2005

“We’re trying to avoid draconian cuts,” city Controller Bob Clifford said. “But the echo effect of this is tremendous.”

Mayor Bart Peterson already ordered $13 million in cuts that will carry through to next year.

Additional cuts will be made with the latest shortfall announcement.

During Peterson’s eight years in office, the city and county budget has gone from $724 million to $1.04 billion, an increase of 44 percent.

- Aug. 1, 2007

But Peterson has put most of that increase into crime-fighting efforts. Public safety and criminal justice spending increased 88 percent in the city and county over that period. Other spending under his authority, other than debt service, largely has declined or stayed flat.

- Oct. 21, 2007

“There’s fat in there to be cut,” Ballard said. “(Peterson) has a record of putting a lot of taxes on people, and that’s not the way I’d like to do business.”

- Nov. 3, 2007

Ballard on Monday declined to reveal any more details about how his budget will make up for lost property tax revenues or fulfill his campaign promise to cut $70 million in “fluff” in three years, aside from spending cuts of nearly $8 million so far this year.

“We’re not looking at stopping what’s already been promised, but we are looking at doing things differently and finding new revenue streams,” Ballard said.

- July 29, 2008