City Council to Talk Budget Cuts at Night Meeting

The San Diego City Council, at a night meeting Monday, is scheduled to discuss budget options to fix the deficit, including charging people for beach parking and false fire calls, cutting employee cell phone use and imposing furloughs.

The Independent Budget Analyst's Office has narrowed a list of more than 300 options down to 18 it recommends for further study, though not necessarily for implementation. The recommendations will be presented during the night session at 6 p.m. at Metropolitan Operations Complex Auditorium (MOCII), 9192 Topaz Way, San Diego.

The "focused" list of 18 options comes after the Council in February reviewed a list of 295 ideas from council members, citizens and labor groups, and asked for a shorter list of items possible to implement in the coming fiscal year. Another eight options have been added to the full list since the February meeting. The IBA reports that 27 of the items have been completed and 55 are initiated or underway.

The agenda item is for information and discussion only.

Just how much money the city needs to cut remains unclear, as Mayor Jerry Sanders' five-year outlook puts the FY 2012 deficit at $56.7 million, while the IBA projects a deficit of $95.8 million with another $80 million needed to catch up on deferred maintenance to streets, drains and facilities.

The IBA estimates that a mandatory one-week furlough for all general fund departments—which would require labor group agreement—would save $9-$10 million, or $3-$4 million with police and fire excluded. The city also could save money by reducing some of the estimated $2.7 million it spends annually on employee cell phone contracts, according to the IBA. Management flex benefits to help pay for health care or retirement cost about $2.6 million and could be eliminated or reduced, the IBA said.

The 18 options pulled by the IBA for further study are listed below, and an explanatory document is attached to this story. A full list of the budget options also is attached.

Budget options cited for potential savings in FY 2012:

• Accelerate managed competition for refuse collection (options No. 1 and 10)
• Expand the use of a 4/10/5 work schedule (11)
• Implement Recovery Auditing Program (14)
• Complete comprehensive review of all existing funds including their legal bases, current and planned uses and fund balances (18, 155)
• Reduce the use of blanket subpoenas to help reduce officer overtime (39)
• Eliminate cell phones, PDAs and other communication devices from all non-emergency personnel; review citywide cell phone expenditures (61)
• Reduce/eliminate management flex benefits (102)
• Increase voluntary furlough or impose mandatory furlough (122)
• Expand use of marketing partnerships (123)
• Enact paid parking at beaches and regional parks (138)
• Sale of underutilized real estate assets (142)
• Implement false alarm fee for Fire-Rescue (145)
• A five percent cut to supplies and services (189)
• Redevelopment Agency payment for Phase II Convention Center bond payments (200)
• Redevelopment Agency repayment of non-CDBG debt (202)
• Implement City Auditor's recommendation with respect to unclaimed funds in the City Treasury (47)
• Implement City Auditor's recommendation for the Fire-Rescue Department to resume and retroactively bill for high-rise inspections (47)