City department managers are trudging through the annual
budget-setting process with the unprecedented need to collectively
cut at least $1.8 million for the fiscal year that starts July
1.
City department managers are trudging through the annual budget-setting process with the unprecedented need to collectively cut at least $1.8 million for the fiscal year that starts July 1.
While city staff are staying silent about the details of what is highest and lowest on the list of services and positions to recommend for elimination, some councilmembers have received pleas from residents who are concerned that Morgan Hill’s animal control services could be reduced or cut altogether.
And while they declined to identify specific ideas where cuts could be implemented until the city manager presents a recommended budget May 15, councilmembers have also said that significant and noticeable service cuts, which will undoubtedly consist of layoffs, are on the horizon as the city tries to close a $1.8 million revenue shortage for next year.
“I understand (the animal control concerns), having lived in a neighborhood with a threatening dog,” said Councilwoman Marby Lee, though she noted she has not yet heard any of the staff’s ideas. “But we have to look at things we haven’t looked at before.”
Funded through the Morgan Hill Police Department, the general fund’s most expensive department with an $11 million budget for fiscal year 2009-2010, animal control services cost about $110,000 this year. The expense covers the salary, benefits and training for one officer, Daniel Pina. It also covers supplies, including the city’s animal control truck, and services contracted to outside agencies.
The city’s animal control division is responsible for dog licensing, citing dog owners who let their pets run loose, and responding to calls regarding animals that are vicious, threatening and a nuisance. It also responds to calls alleging inhumane treatment of animals. And the division administers dog licensing for the city of Gilroy, which gives Morgan Hill 90 percent of the revenues from these licenses.
In 2009, the city issued 109 citations for violations of the local animal control ordinance, which reflects state laws. Dog licensing has increased sharply in Morgan Hill in recent years, from 474 licenses issued in 2008, to about 1,190 issued last year.
Sampson said the department’s budgeting and command staff has not yet considered how police would deal with animal control calls and violations without a full-time officer. He said when Pina is not on duty now, patrol officers do a “basic level” of service and response.
City Manager Ed Tewes has directed all departments funded through the $28 million general fund – including park maintenance, street maintenance, recreation, city clerk and human resources – to cut a total of $2.3 million from their budgets for next year, to allow room for the possibility of an even higher deficit than what is projected. He will evaluate their individual proposals and form a recommended total budget to present to the council May 15.
Tewes said it would be “inappropriate and irresponsible” to speculate on specific service cut ideas that have been discussed by city staff, considering the likely substantial impacts the cuts will have on public employees and the community as a whole.
“Dozens of options” for service and personnel cuts are on the table among all the city’s departments, Tewes said, and the process requires careful deliberation.
“We must evaluate the impact on the community before we make a recommendation,” Tewes said.
The city spends about 55 percent of its general fund budget – or about $15 million – on salaries and benefits. One way the city has hoped to save money is through negotiations with three employee union groups – the Police Officers Association, the Community Service Officers Association, and the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees Local. The three unions are scheduled to receive a total of $1.23 million in contracted raises through 2014, and the council has tried to encourage them to take some of that back.
Councilman Greg Sellers also declined to comment on what police services he thinks deserve priority. He said such decisions are best left to Chief Bruce Cumming and the commanders.
He said “the last thing” he wants to do is reduce public safety. The city currently employs 37 sworn officers. That brings the city’s ratio of officers per 1,000 residents to about .97, well below the federal Bureau of Justice recommendation of 1.8 for cities of Morgan Hill’s size.
But unspecified service cuts, without major concessions from the unions, could mean layoffs.
“Since a significant part of the budget is for public safety, it will be difficult to meet the required targets without a reduction in salaries one way or the other – if we’re not able to achieve (the savings) through salary reductions, we’ll have to achieve it through personnel reductions,” Sellers said.
Last year, the city cut three officer positions, but those were vacant at the time.
Mayor Steve Tate said he’s not convinced that layoffs in the police department are inevitable.
“The main thing that drives me from a police standpoint is to keep as many officers as we possibly can,” Tate said. “It’s very logical – the more (officers) we have, the more safe our community will be.”
Councilman Larry Carr said the required cuts will mean reductions in “people and services.”
“Morgan Hill residents are going to see a decline in services. As services get cut, personnel will lose their jobs,” Carr said. He added the scheduled raises that the council wants to renegotiate “only add to the problem, and will force us to lay off employees.”
