Council examines possible cuts

Huntington Beach is looking into reducing fire and police personnel, making other department cuts and reconsidering staff benefits to fill a $4-million revenue shortfall.

The City Council and heads of departments came together Friday for a special Strategic Planning meeting at the Central Library to brainstorm ways to cut expenses and get Huntington Beach out of the red. Each department also submitted a list of reductions totaling about $3.9 million.

City officials narrowed down a list of 50 ideas, which ranged from charging residents money for additional public comment minutes to selling advertising space on city buildings.

“This is not making the decision. This is looking at the feasibility of the things and presenting a report as part of the budget process,” said Marilyn Snider, a facilitation training consultant.

Snider was paid about $3,500 to run the nearly all-day meeting and help the brainstorming process.

The council decided to look into the feasibility of closing down City Hall on Fridays; enhancing employee contributions to different benefits programs; deferring wage increases including cost of living; looking into early retirement; eliminating supplemental medical benefits for new hires; and examining new ideas for revenue enhancement.

The council also decided to look internally into the mandatory staffing levels in the fire department and possibly reduce the number of staff on fire engines.

Some of the council members were wary of revisiting the staffing numbers of the fire engines and questioned how much it was going to cost just to look into it.

“Why are we looking at costing more money for the city when we don’t have any and we’re already at bare bones?” Councilman Gil Coerper asked.

Despite some council members’ reservations about how much it was going to cost, Councilman Don Hansen said they were at a point when everything needed to be looked at.

“We’ve got to look at everything, and we’ve got to put everything on the table,” Hansen.

Staff also submitted proposals for reductions to balance the budget. The largest proposed reductions would be to public safety, with more than $700,000 from fire and more than $1 million from police, according to a draft budget summary.

The police would look into modifying staffing levels and keeping 20 positions vacant. The department has 15 positions vacant and will keep the next five positions unfilled, but no one will be laid off, Small said.

“We’re hoping that it has a minimum impact,” Small said.

Other officers will be taken off specialized units, including two helicopter pilots, and the department will use its own funds for helicopter maintenance and repairs, instead of the city’s general fund, Small said. Small said the changes won’t impact response times, but may hinder the department’s ability to investigate crimes.

All reductions must go before the City Council for approval, City Administrator Fred Wilson said.

The reductions will be presented at the Feb. 16 City Council study session and are expected to be voted on March 1.