With only one week before City Council’s deadline to balance the budget, aldermen are scrambling for a solution that will carry the city through its $4 million deficit. On Monday, Alds. Arthur Newman (1st), Melissa Wynne (3rd) and Gene Feldman (9th) drafted a budget proposal that would create new fees for city services, lead to a substantial increase in property taxes and reduce salary increases for the city’s non-union employees.

We understand the aldermen’s desire to save residents’ pet programs and avoid unpopular budget cuts. But this kind of short-term fix won’t be enough. It’s time to plan for a more sustainable future. Although we accept the money-saving measure in the current crisis, we can’t help but ask how many times Evanston can stunt non-union city employees’ raises? How much higher can the city raise property taxes before residents leave for greener, cheaper pastures, taking their tax dollars with them? Evanston has been down this road before. Its coffers are overextended, and the only viable ways to end the cycle of deficits would be to expand the tax base, which would take years, or reduce the budget – and that means services.

Upsetting residents is inevitable. Still, the council should revisit proposed cuts to the Evanston Public Library branches, the Evanston Community Media Center and the arts program. It is with great reluctance that we suggest Evanston can no longer afford such luxuries. It should slash programs that are not absolutely necessary, but only in favor of the services that are essential to the most vulnerable members of the community: the poor, the sick, the elderly and the young.

The solution is difficult. We don’t envy the aldermen and the decisions they have to make. But there isn’t much choice. It’s time to make some cuts.