Redondo Beach city employees for the second year in a row are being asked take a six percent pay cut and forego a scheduled four percent cost of living increase in order to help the city meet a gaping budget deficit, according to proposals outlined in the budget City Manager Bill Workman submitted the City Council last week.
The proposed salary concessions, which would save the city $3.6 million, make up the lion’s share of reductions intended to shore up a $7.4 million budget gap. Total expenditures of $98.9 million are expected to outstrip a projected $91.5 million in revenues for city coffers this year.
“We have got to have the concessions continue,” Workman told the City Council at a budget workshop on Tuesday night.
The City Manager said the lagging economy has continued to drag down city tax revenues almost across the board. In particular, Workman’s budgets shows that sales tax revenues are down from a peak of nearly $11 million three years ago to a projected $8.1 million this year. Likewise, hotel “bed taxes” are stagnant, down from a high of $3.9 million three years ago to $3.1 million this year. And Workman noted the property tax revenues are projected to decline for the first time in decades – down $375,000 this year to $18.3 million – largely due to a drop in Proposition 13 property value calculations.
“Property tax will go down in the coming year, and this is something I don’t think the city has seen in 30 years,” Workman said.
The city last year, in addition to negotiating wage concessions from employees, eliminated several positions and laid off a half-dozen employees. Workman has proposed a “Seven Point Plan” meant to address this year’s budget gap that likewise proposes to eliminate nine full-time positions, all but two which are currently vacant. The proposals would also cut all departmental budgets, transfer nearly $1.3 million in capital improvement funds back into the city’s general fund, increase fees, scale back part-time employees, and – most crucially – once again negotiate wage concessions.
“Based on projections going forward for the coming year, we think the same thing is in place – we don’t have the ability to pay what we are committed to,” Workman said. “These are extraordinary times that demand extraordinary actions on behalf of employees, city management, and City Council.”
“The customer service level and production of our employees is really outstanding and they voluntarily participated in this current fiscal year in helping us through this fiscal emergency,” he added. “And we are asking them to help again, because despite rumors to the contrary, things have not turned around.”
Mayor Mike Gin said the budget was indicative of the difficult economic times faced by nearly everyone in recent years.
“I think it is a very sobering time, and I think this budget is unfortunately very reflective of what many of us are probably experiencing personally in terms of spending issues and debt issues and things like that,” Gin said.
Councilman Pat Aust, a former fire chief who worked three decades in the city, said these are among the most difficult times he has witnessed. He praised employee contributions in helping the city weather the storm.
“They have been really pulling hard, harder than I’ve seen in my 40 years,” Aust said.
Among the positions scheduled for elimination are a harbor projects analyst, a harbor facilities manager, a business systems analyst, an administrative coordinator in the Recreation and Community Services department, an administrative specialist in the fire department, a senior parks caretaker, and a maintenance worker. The harbor facilities manager and business systems analysts are the only two of the positions currently filled, thus requiring layoffs.
Workman’s budget message – at the beginning of the 287-page budget document – said that without wage concessions city personnel costs would increase by 9.1 percent to $47.2 million. Workman also wrote that the city has trimmed its number of employees from 495 five years ago to 452 this year.
Councilman Bill Brand pointed specifically to hits to public safety. He asked both police chief Joe Leonardi and fire chief Dan Madrigal how many positions their respective departments have lost in recent years.
“I just think the public wants to know what the impacts have been to our core services,” Brand said.
Leonardi said the department had gone from a high of 109 sworn personnel – and an average of about 105 – to only 92 positions under this year’s budget. Madrigal said the fire department has lost about 7.5 positions over recent years but has maintained 60 firefighters. But the fire department is struggling to keep its fire inspection program intact after losing one of two inspectors, Madrigal said.
“We just can’t stay afloat,” Madrigal said. “We can’t man it with one person – that person is being overwhelmed.”
This year’s budget proposes a fire prevention reserve program – similar to the police reserve program, which uses volunteers – in order to bolster inspections.
Both Gin and Workman suggested the city will need to find more ways to utilize volunteers throughout the city to provide city services. Another budget consideration, for example, would utilize this year’s Leadership Redondo class – a Chamber of Commerce civic volunteer program – to redesign and fundraise for the replacement of the faltering bandstand in Veteran’s Park.
Gin suggested that the city systematically seek out volunteers to fill in the service gaps emerging after years of budget cuts.
“If there is a way volunteers could be asked to help out somehow, that would be great,” Gin said.
Workman said volunteers have become essential. “That is where we are going to go for the next couple of years until things start turning around and restabilize,” the city manager said. ER
