MAYOR'S BUDGET WINS CITY COUNCIL APPROVAL

Early action to address FY2011 deficit prevents $24 million in cuts

The San Diego City Council today approved Mayor Jerry Sanders’ 18-month spending plan for San Diego that will begin to address six months early the $179 million deficit projected for fiscal year 2011 - spreading spending cuts over a longer period to decrease their severity.

The mayor lauded the City Council for acting swiftly and decisively to preserve services for citizens.

“By making this decision now and putting this plan into effect in January, we will avoid having to cut an additional $24 million from the budget in June,” Sanders said. “I'm certain that none of the councilmembers relished going through this process early, but they recognized it could lessen the impact of the recession on our citizens, and they chose not to delay the inevitable.”

The spending plan passed by the City Council includes reductions in virtually every city department and maintains the jobs of all sworn police and fire personnel. The plan also avoids closures of libraries and recreation centers, and continues to fully fund the city's required pension payment.

Sanders’ plan incorporates $82.6 million in ongoing structural reductions, largely through cutting 530 positions - 200 of which are currently filled. Also included in the ongoing savings are reduced spending on information technology services through opening a competitive-bidding process; reducing the TOT-funded subsidy of the San Diego Convention Center Corp.; and using land-sale revenues to service debt for deferred maintenance construction.

The proposal also includes $96.5 million in one-time savings and adjustments, including not adding to reserves in FY 2011; restructuring the final payment on the McGuigan legal settlement, which remedies underfunding of the pension system by previous administrations; and postponing fire-sprinkler installation at the City Administration Building.

The use of one-time adjustments acknowledges that a majority of the FY2011 deficit is related to the recession, including $67 million in reduced tax revenues and a $57 million spike in the city’s required pension payment caused by stock-market losses.

The approval of the budget will not constitute a final decision or become effective until the city has complied with its legal obligations under the California’s Meyers-Milias-Brown Act and any procedural requirements set forth in City Council Policy 300-06, which governs labor relations.

Under the plan, departmental spending reductions would include the following measures:

• Police would cut $26 million by eliminating 134 vacant sworn positions and non-revenue-generating civilian support positions; eliminating equestrian patrol and canine units and reassigning officers to patrol; and reassigning code-compliance duties to sworn personnel.
• Fire-Rescue would cut $18.6 million from its budget by eliminating 50 vacant sworn positions; reducing eight engine companies on a rotating basis; eliminating vacant construction plan-check positions; limiting lifeguard service at Torrey Pines Beach to the summer months; and reducing lifeguard overtime by holding fewer training sessions.
• Park & Recreation would reduce its budget by $3.7 million by increasing each manager’s span of control; eliminating the beach fire pits; closing some little-used Mission Beach restrooms in the winter; reducing beach sand grooming; transferring revenue from cellular antennas to the General Fund; and eliminating enhanced service at five sports fields.
• The Library Department would trim $3.8 million from its budget by reducing hours of operation at all branch libraries by five hours per week and at Central Library by 12 hours per week; eliminating Sunday hours at most branches; scaling back technical services; and reducing library matching funds.

Other budget cuts include shifting trash collection schedules to minimize equipment costs; reducing the size of the city’s vehicle fleet; and replacing vehicles less often.

“There will be service impacts felt in every community, but we have made every effort to spread the cuts equitably,” Sanders said. “As these changes take effect, I’ll continue to work with the Council to ensure that no community is being asked to bear an unfair share of this burden.”

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