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Long list of cuts proposed at City Hall

Unfilled police jobs unpopular with council; so is selling ad space on benches and naming rights to D St. bridge

Published: Thursday, May 15, 2008

By COREY YOUNG
ARGUS-COURIER STAFF

The City's budget future MORE POSSIBLE CUTS • Eliminate after-hours response by animal control: -$26,000 • Reduce part-time park maintenance, eliminate community center staff on evenings and weekends, cut swim center season by up to five weeks, reduce youth recreation services: -$130,000 • Reduce city funding for crafts fair and movies in the park, and seek donations instead: -$32,500 MORE POSSIBLE REVENUE • Increase parking ticket fines by $5 for regular violations, $50 for disabled-spot violators: +$50,000 • Raise ambulance fees: +$50,000 • Develop year-round aquatics program at Cavanagh Center: +$105,000 • Increase fees for recreation classes, playing fields rental, classroom rental: +$70,500

Presented with a buffet of ideas for resolving a $1.5 million budget shortfall in core city services, City Council members on Monday said a few stood out as cutbacks they just couldn’t stomach.

Chief among those was City Manager John Brown’s outside-the-box suggestion that the city could save about $109,000 by showing him the door.

Brown said he floated the suggestion as a show of solidarity with city departments that might face layoffs under a lean 2008-2009 spending plan.

“I don’t feel comfortable putting other people up on the block if I don’t at least put myself there with them,” he said. “That’s something that’s always your choice.”

But it was clear the council wouldn’t entertain the idea — no one offered to support the proposal.

“I want to go on record that I don’t see that as an option,” Councilmember Samantha Freitas said.

Brown said his proposed $38.9 million general fund budget for the fiscal year that begins July 1 is balanced, but he wanted the council to weigh in on both the cutbacks and money-raising ideas it contained.

Under the proposal, the city would cancel vacant part-time positions, raise some fees and charges and cut back on supplies, travel and fuel, among other expenses.

“What we have in front of you are cuts that the departments believe they can live with, if they have to,” he told the council.

He also proposed freezing three police officer positions. Officers would not be laid off, but vacant slots in the patrol division would not be filled, for a $360,400 savings, Brown said.

“What we’re trying to do is spread the pain across all departments,” he told the council. “Nobody’s very happy about what they’re offering up, but I think we all believe it’s something we need to do in order to make the budget work.”

Due to the time it takes to hire and train a new officer, those positions would not actually be filled for up to 16 months, officials said.

But council members, noting that the police department is already holding four patrol positions vacant, indicated they were opposed to further delays in filling those slots.

“I’m not real thrilled about leaving the three police officer positions unfunded,” Councilmember Mike O’Brien said. “We have a commitment to the community for public safety.”

Police Chief Steve Hood said the 59-officer patrol division of the department is automatically down to 55 officers because of the current frozen slots, before any officers go on leave due to injuries or decide to retire.

Freezing only three slots next year would bring full staffing up to 56 patrol officers on paper, said Hood, but would add to the delay in getting officers trained and out on patrol.

“Anything you freeze, you’re not going to get back for 16 months, at best,” he said. “You can get behind the curve pretty fast.”

The one full-time layoff under consideration — a planner in the community development department — should also be off the table, the council indicated.

Instead, the $123,800 cost of that position’s salary and benefits should be recouped by raising a certain building fee, for the cost of implementing the General Plan, to a level on par with what surrounding cities charge, the council said.

Other budget ideas were opposed by council members. Those included selling naming rights to the D Street bridge and other assets, selling advertising space on downtown benches and street signs and eliminating a downtown garbage service on weekends.

Brown said the council’s feedback given Monday will be used in crafting an updated general fund proposal for the June 2 start of budget hearings.

(Contact Corey Young at corey.young@arguscourier.com)