An Inside Look at Proposed 2012 City Budget Cuts

City commissioners will begin the final stages of passing the 2012 fiscal year budget in a work session at 6 p.m. Friday.

The Office of Management and Budget (OMB) proposed a plan that includes spending reductions for the fifth year in a row, and commissioners must now go through the details to propose changes, update revenue estimates and correct errors.

The proposal reduces $2 million in general fund spending, leaving the fund with a balance of $12.5 million. Closing Fire Station 39 provides the largest single cut, and an additional $1.5 million is spread through all city departments.

Special events in the downtown area would be cut in the proposal, saving $66,100 in operating and personnel costs. This includes closing the Downtown Market and removing one full-time special events recreation leader.

OMB manager Amy Davis said the city tried to run downtown events, but “our hope has always been that downtown events would be picked up by a nonprofit.”

The city would close Fire Station 39 to begin the first phase of merging stations 39 and 43.

Although a land deal for the new combined fire station fell through earlier this summer, the city is still moving forward, and the closure would remove six full-time equivalent positions, reducing $526,500.

Davis said the closure should not have a large effect on residents.

“The emergency response system is spread through the county, and city fire departments augment the county system. Closing Station 39 still meets the required level of service set by the county,” she said.

Although the city commission decided to start closing the library on Sundays a few months early, it was originally slated for this budget proposal. Removing 2.5 full-time equivalent positions will save $98,600, and it will cost the city $5,800 to promote library clerks to library assistants.

Along with reducing its utility budget by $20,000, the library would share an office administrator with the finance department, saving $38,900.

In a similar move, the police and fire departments would share an accounting clerk, saving $11,200 for the police department and removing one full-time equivalent position in the fire department, saving $51,600.

Davis said finding creative ways to fund positions reduced general fund spending while preserving jobs.

“If a position is funded 100 percent by the general fund, but a lot of the work might be in sewage, the departments will share costs. It’s a fluid process,” she said.

Recreation, Parks and Arts employees would see reduced budgets for everything from overtime to tuition reimbursement. For the fourth year, grounds maintenance positions were cut, saving $49,000, although the flagship 70-acre Largo Central Park is not facing any cuts to maintenance employees.

The work session Friday is open to the public, and the city commission will hold the first public budget hearing Sept. 8 and the second Sept. 20.

Fiscal year 2012 begins Oct. 1.