“This budget is the tightest I’ve ever seen,” Morgan said. “Councils have gotten used to seeing places where it’s not that hard to cut. This is the eighth year in a row that we’ve kept slicing away at the budget.”
Morgan had asked all department heads to identify areas where expenses could be reduced, but the largest cost savings was $2 million, which would be realized by delaying the replacement of equipment and vehicles by one year. Citizens could see the effect of the budget cuts in a number of ways. The city manager proposed idling the library’s mobile units that currently make the rounds to daycares for a cost savings of $115,856. Field operations would cut back by $700,000, including $100,000 from the street maintenance program, a $50,000 reduction in right-ofway maintenance and $50,000 from the snow program.
“I think we’re going to have one less snow this year,” Morgan said. “That’s the plan.” The transportation department would reduce spending on street lighting, traffic signal operations and signage.
“We may be a little slower in responding to requests for lighting and stop signs,” Morgan said. The parks & recreation department would reduce maintenance and operations, including arts and athletics programs, by $40,500. But Morgan promised that none of the summer youth programs would be touched.
The city is also considering eliminating a $100,000 fund for neighborhood small grants. That proposal ran into some resistance from District 1 Councilwoman Dianne Bellamy-Small.
“I have a problem with cutting that,” Bellamy-Small said. “If we’re reducing services, you want to empower neighborhoods to do more.” Maintenance and operation of the fire department would be reduced by $372,423.
“This tightens them up pretty close,” Morgan said, “but [Deputy Chief] David [Spears] tells me they can get through a couple years.
Morgan said he would like to reserve the option of instituting furloughs, in which city employees would take unpaid vacation days, as an “emergency tool” if the city’s budget situation continues to deteriorate.
He also dismissed early retirement as an immediate option, explaining, “We felt like we had sufficient
vacancies.” The city has already eliminated 49 positions in the current
budget year, and a hiring freeze has been in place since last October.
‘I think we’re going to have one less snow this year. That’s the plan.— Greensboro interim City Manager Bob Morgan
Morgan’s budget
recommendations include maintaining the vacancy freeze and withholding
merit raises. Among the staff cuts is an assistant city manager
position that is currently vacant.
The Planning Department
would reduce its staff by one person, but city officials said demand
for its services has waned with the flaccid economy. And a garden event
coordinator position would be eliminated to save $21,500.
The
city staff found savings in the police department by reducing training
and travel funds, getting rid of some pagers, eliminating the city’s
contribution to the department’s annual awards banquet, and scrapping
the underwater recovery team, which cost $1,700. Parks & recreation
would recover $99,846 with the sale of Tannenbaum Park to the National
Park Services.
City Attorney Terry Wood said it is unlikely
the legal department will be able to reduce outsourcing considering
that the city is defending itself against a discrimination lawsuit
filed by dozens of police officers. Wood responded affirmatively to a
request by District 4 Councilman Mike Barber to calculate the cost of
going to trial for council to consider in closed session on Tuesday.
Barber
also floated the idea of reopening the White Street Landfill for
household waste — a gambit that was rejected by council last year. By
handling its own solid waste Barber said the city could save $4 million
a year; Morgan said staff’s estimate is between $3 million and $4
million. The interim city manager also acknowledged the political
difficulty of reopening the landfill, which has been staunchly opposed
by Bellamy-Small, District 2 Councilwoman Goldie Wells, Mayor Yvonne
Johnson and at-large Councilman Robbie Perkins.
“Nobody wants
to have a landfill in their neighborhood,” Morgan said. “I think what
you could do is have a conversation with the neighborhood about what we
could do for your neighborhood to offset the landfill.”
Staff
instructed to bring back information about the costs and benefits of
special events such as NC A&T University’s homecoming, and the cost
and benefits of partnerships, such as the city’s financial support of
Center City Park, which is operated by Action Greensboro.
“I consider this to be a big policy decision you all will have to make,” Morgan said.
