The city council voted 5-2 to pass the 2008-2009 budget that
includes a hiring freeze, but no layoffs or wage reductions to help
narrow the remaining $3.95 million deficit, which will further
drain the city’s reserve fund. Council members passed the budget
after reinstating about $275,000 in funding for a probation officer
position, the city’s visitor’s bureau and Economic Development
Corporation and sundry community programs.
The city council voted 5-2 to pass the 2008-2009 budget that includes a hiring freeze, but no layoffs or wage reductions to help narrow the remaining $3.95 million deficit, which will further drain the city’s reserve fund. Council members passed the budget after reinstating about $275,000 in funding for a probation officer position, the city’s visitor’s bureau and Economic Development Corporation and sundry community programs.
The budget reflects a $4.5 million expenditure reduction compared to the former plan. Councilman Perry Woodward called it “a Herculean effort,” and Councilwoman Cat Tucker also lauded City Administrator Tom Haglund for recently coming on the job and immediately dealing with a deficit that had ballooned due to a slowing economy. But councilmen Craig Gartman and Dion Bracco said it was not enough.
“I don’t believe in using our reserve fund as a form of income,” Bracco said in reference to the pot that had $26 million a year ago and is expected to shrink to $16.5 million by the end of next fiscal year, which begins July 1. “(Staff) is in a self-preservation mode … We ask for cuts, and they come back with seniors’ and children’s programs.”
Bracco encouraged the city administrator to convey the serious specter of lay-offs to the city’s 277 full-time employees. Mayor Al Pinheiro has also repeatedly invited union representatives to attend council meetings so they can keep their finger on the body’s pulse and offer insight.
In explaining his ‘No’ vote, Gartman simply said, “I believe in a balanced budget, and I won’t support a budget until it’s balanced.”
According to Haglund’s four-year plan, the city will have a balanced budget by 2012 by drawing another $3 million from its reserve. Ensuring this balance is only possible with additional cuts, however, and council members and city officials have indicated layoffs may be next.
Although she supported the budget, Tucker has also said the body “needs” to consider wage freezes or current employee cuts. These are certainly possibilities, Haglund has said, but the approved budget cuts also represent what can be done immediately. And Pinheiro has also reminded the council of its commitments to unions regarding future pay hikes negotiated in the past.
In the recommended budget, Haglund calls for all 24 of the city’s vacant full-time positions remain frozen through at least 2009. There are 277 full-time city employees. In addition to the hiring freeze, 30 forecasted positions have been “defunded” through 2013 and will remain so unless needed to fulfill basic operations or until the council orders a specific position to be filled, according to Haglund. If an employee retires, that position will be frozen until the council reactivates it.
The hiring freeze through at least June 2009 applies to the following unfilled positions:
Police Department: 1 captain, 1 police officer, 2 community service officers
Community Development Department: 1 permit center planner, 1 housing planner, 1 senior civil engineer, 1 senior plan review technician, 1 permit technician, 1 office assistant
Community Services Department: 2 recreation coordinators, 1 maintenance worker
Human Resources: 1 part-time office assistant
Fire Department: 9 paid-call firefighters
Finance: 1 budget officer
Source: City of Gilroy
