Publication Date: Wednesday, February 02, 2005
City looks at where to cut
City looks at where to cut
(February 02, 2005)Where should the largest portion of the city's budget cuts come from?
Should the city stop funding lawn bowling? Trim the number of theatre performances in the Children Theatre's Wingspread program? Reduce employee training?
City Manager Frank Benest listed these and several other programs as examples of city services that might face cutbacks this year during a special City Council retreat on Saturday.
Other potentially targeted programs included the city's public relations staff, historic preservation, reviews of two-story homes, wildlife rescue and responses to noise complaints.
Around 50 members of the public attended Saturday's retreat, which began at 8:30 a.m. inside a room at the Lucie Stern Community Center. They sat in rows of black folding chairs facing the elected officials and department heads who were sitting in a semicircle.
In the spring, Benest will present a draft of the city's 2005-2006 budget. The city is facing a $5.2 million deficit, largely the result of declining tax revenues and rising benefit costs. Layoffs are expected.
The city manager also noted that although libraries will face some trims, they will likely get a smaller share of the proposed cuts, because he recognizes the department has been chronically under-funded.
To write the draft budget, Benest will rely on various methods ranging from a 2-year-old survey to legal mandates. He has also developed a list of criteria to rank all of the 300-plus line items in the city's general fund budget. But no one method will dictate where the cuts originate.
"Ultimately it's a matter of subjective judgment. ... It's not scientific," he said.
In June, the City Council is scheduled to approve the budget after a month of Finance Committee hearings. The city is also planning to hold "Budget 101" classes in March for interested residents.
-- Bill D'Agostino
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