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<br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br /> <br />Office of the Mayor <br /> <br />NEWS RELEASE <br />Aug. 3, 2009 <br />3:30 p.m. <br /> <br />Smaller departments still face full impact of tax caps <br /> <br />Contact: <br />Mikki Dobski, Director of Communications & Special Projects, 235-5855 or 876-1564 <br /> <br />Personnel layoffs, 5-percent pay cuts, 32-hour work weeks (with a corresponding 20- <br />percent pay cut) and organizational restructuring are some of the ways City of South <br />Bend departments are adjusting to live within proposed budgets for 2010. <br /> <br />Initial budget hearings by the South Bend Common Council focused on high-profile <br />departments with services deemed a high priority by residents (public safety and parks <br />and recreation). Discussions were largely upbeat with reports of police officers retained, <br />most firefighter layoffs averted and key park facilities spared closure. <br /> <br />“The remaining budget hearings will be more difficult. We’ll see cuts in personnel and <br />services that will impact the level of service we provide to our residents,” said Mayor <br />Stephen J. Luecke. “Yet we’re committed to trying to make up as much of the shortfall as <br />possible through new efficiencies, streamlined operations and innovative use of <br />technology.” <br /> <br />Increases in Local Option Income Taxes are projected to generate $16 million in revenue <br />for the City of South Bend to replace a portion of the $22 million lost to the state’s <br />property tax caps. Still, the fact that an estimated $6 million in lost property tax revenue <br />will not be replaced, compounded by an additional $2-million revenue decline from the <br />global economic crisis, means reductions for every department – for some more than <br />others. <br /> <br />The new 0.25 percent Public Safety Tax will provide an extra $5 million for Police and <br />Fire departments. Police will get another $800,000 annually from a three-year federal <br />stimulus grant. The impact of the 0.5 percent Property Tax Relief LOIT will restore <br />$900,000 a year for the Parks & Recreation department. Luecke and City Controller <br />Catherine Fanello have recommended using a projected $4 million from the remaining <br />LOIT, a 0.2 percent increase in the Economic Development Income Tax, for capital <br /> <br />