Laserfiche WebLink
Budget Stabilization Plan <br />September 19, 2011 <br />Page 4 <br />Recommended Approach <br />To balance the City's budget, approximately $30 million in structural changes must be in place by <br />July 1, 2012. Budget adjustments need to begin by January 2012 to preserve the City's fund <br />balance. The City's internal service funds need to be reserved for their intended purposes and <br />not utilized to balance the budget. <br />Thus, over the past several months City staff has worked to create an action plan to stabilize the <br />budget. A four-pronged approach is recommended to ensure that the City reduces its costs to <br />match recurring revenues. The recommended four-pronged approach includes: <br />1. Negotiated compensation reductions: City needs to reduce salary and benefits provided to <br />the workforce through a negotiated process. With closed contracts in place, this will require <br />the collaboration of our bargaining units. <br />2. Outsourcing: City is obtaining requests for proposals from other service providers to <br />preserve services to the community while obtaining them at a lower cost. Only through <br />obtaining proposals will the City know what level of savings, if any, can be achieved. <br />¦ Fire department services <br />¦ Fire dispatch services <br />¦ EMS ambulance service <br />¦ Jail services <br />¦ Police department services <br />¦ Parking control and meter services <br />¦ Animal control services <br />¦ Fleet maintenance <br />¦ Library services <br />¦ Workers' comp administration <br />¦ Zoo <br />¦ Central stores <br />¦ Street sweeping (sanitation fund) <br />¦ Bowers Museum contract <br />Each proposal will need to be analyzed for its cost effectiveness and submitted to the Council <br />for consideration. Implementation dates will be based on the complexity of the program, but <br />are expected to begin in January 2012. In addition, when it makes economic and business <br />sense the City will look at in-source opportunities. <br />3. Restructuring and Service Reductions: Departmental budget reductions including <br />reorganizations and service reductions must be implemented. These reductions in services <br />will depend on the dollars saved through negotiated compensation reductions and <br />outsourcing. <br />60A-4