08-03-09 Smaller departments still face full impact of tax caps

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expenses citywide. Yet the most recent analysis of projected cuts and revenues left little room to restore other services and personnel. “There are some measures we’re instituting citywide – such as pay freezes, cuts in health benefits and continued reduction in take-home vehicles with related expenses,” Luecke said. “Yet because each department has different ways of operating, we’ve allowed flexibility for directors to determine the most effective way for them to reach their targeted cuts. Some have chosen reduced hours and salaries to avert further loss of personnel.” Here are the steps being taken by City departments scheduled for today’s budget hearing: ADMINISTRATION & FINANCE: The department has cut personnel costs by 9 percent, or $80,573, since the beginning of 2009, including a 5 percent salary cut for director-level positions. Two positions were eliminated this year – an assistant Human Resource director and an Information Technology position. Separate positions for a license clerk and a receptionist were combined into one, and the position of Assistant Controller was eliminated, enabling the sharing of a Finance position with the Public Works department. These changes have led the department to increase cross-training of staff, but still has impacted the timeliness and volume of reports and projects produced by the department. CODE ENFORCEMENT: Effective January 2009, take-home vehicles were eliminated for nine inspectors. Also in 2009, the director and three supervisors took a 5 percent salary reduction. Projected cuts of $205,711 for 2010 represents 9 percent of the department’s 2008 budget. Most of the additional cuts result from reducing the hours and some benefits of all secretaries and inspectors in the department from 40-hour weeks to 32-hour weeks. (The reduction includes a 20-percent pay reduction, but employees still qualify for health benefits.) The department also has cut two secretarial positions and one part-time position. The department also anticipates reducing costs for demolition of substandard structures by $35,000 through negotiating a new contract. Increased fees and new processes also may help the department increase revenue. COMMUNITY AND ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT: When the impact of the tax caps was evident, this department cut one staff position and left two vacant positions unfilled. The department also plans to eliminate two additional full-time positions by the end of 2009, while some employees will begin working 32-hour work weeks in 2010. The staff reductions will allow the department to consolidate locations, relocating staff who now work in the Trigon Building, across the street from the County-City Building, this fall into the County-City Building, saving nearly $80,000 annually. Overall, the department has cut 13 percent of its budget from 2009 to 2010. LEGAL: In 2009, Legal eliminated its paid interns, reallocated some salary costs from property taxes to management of the City’s self-insurance fund, and reduced other salary costs. Legal also is examining other salary reductions to reduce 2010 personnel costs by 24 percent when compared with 2009 levels. Some attorney costs will be allocated to specific projects, rather than to the City’s general fund budget. Compared with Fort Wayne, Evansville and Gary, South Bend spends less in total legal fees. Although South