Tight budget includes cuts
Jose Paul Corona
The City Council passed a $363-million city budget Monday night
that, at $7 million less than last year’s budget, means closing the
Shipley Nature Center, cutting the DARE program in half and
eliminating 41 city jobs.
After five long budget workshops that required council members to
consider and ultimately take some drastic measures unpopular with
many residents, the council passed the 2002-03 budget without dipping
into the city’s general reserve fund.
“I was impressed that the council was able to complete the budget
by using revenue,” said City Administrator Ray Silver. “They
responded well.”
Of the $7 million trimmed thus far, $3.5 million came as cuts and
another $3.5 million is added revenue through increased fees, Silver
said.
The council avoided dipping into reserves by hiking fees around
town such as those at the parking structure Downtown and adding other
charges, such as garbage collection fees for low-income seniors who
were previously exempt. The added income for trash fees alone was
more than $42,000.
Of the $363-million budget, 30% is capitol projects in the city
such as the sports complex and south beach improvement, Silver said,
while only 28% of it is salary and benefits.
But not everyone is as happy with the outcome as Silver. Many
residents are irate that the city has closed the Shipley Nature
Center and dropped responsibility for what they consider a city
treasure into the lap of a fledgling nonprofit group set up in an
effort to help support the center.
The new budget also cuts the Drug Abuse Resistance Education
program in half, scaling back the previously 18-week program to just
nine. Police Chief Ron Lowenberg has said there is enough money in
police coffers to fund the modified program for one year.
The program has been put up on the chopping block each year, but
council members have said they feel the program is too important,
despite studies that have been presented in the past questioning its
effectiveness.
With roughly half the felony convictions in the court systems are
drug related, the DARE program helps prevent children from using
drugs, said Councilman Ralph Bauer.
“That’s money well spent,” he said.
It was a give-and-take for the police department, however. Funding
for the police department’s crime lab had to come from somewhere,
Bauer said.
City staff was also reigned in when Silver suggested eliminating
41 positions, most of which were empty at the time anyway, he said.
“I’m leaving the hiring freeze on in anticipation of another hit
from the state next year,” he said, adding that the city is also
looking at what properties it might be able to sell.
Now that the council has put the city’s budget to bed, it will
have to wait and see how the state’s budget may impact it, Silver
said.
“We’re going to start preparing for the next possible reduction,”
he said. “The state budget may reopen in January [and] could aversely
affect cities.”
The state could transfer cost to Huntington or take funds from the
city depending on the situation.
“Having lost $16 million over the last two years, I think we did
pretty good,” Silver said.
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