Burris: Budget proposals down to bare bones

City Manager Greg Burris presented two bleak pictures for the city's finances should a proposed sales tax on the February ballot fail.

At council's Jan. 6 luncheon, Burris presented two budget cut scenarios that could be enacted if the 1-cent sales tax on the Feb. 4 ballot fails. The sales tax is the city's plan to bring the Police and Fire pension fund back up to full levels - a $200 million task.

The first presentation was the most pessimistic. That scenario assumed that, in addition to the failure of the 1-cent proposal, overall sales tax revenue would drop by 1.5 percent in the current fiscal year, which ends June 30, and by another 1.5 percent in fiscal 2010.

Those decreases, in addition to the $530,000 the city would need to make the full actuarial recommended contribution to the pension plan, would mean $5.7 million in cuts to the city's $73 million general revenue fund budget. Those reductions would be on top of $5.2 million in cuts made to the current year's budget.

The proposals

Among the recommended reductions, there are three ideas that each would save at least $1 million:

• A hiring freeze for 30 open job positions, on top of the 36 full-time general fund positions that were affected by a hiring freeze enacted in July, would save $1.2 million. Burris said reallocating existing staff, such as moving all remaining neighborhood Police officers back to uniformed patrol, would be necessary if those 30 jobs remained open.

• A total reduction of $1 million in funding transfers to the Parks, Health and Transportation departments, on top of the nearly $1.9 million cut from the fiscal 2009 budget. Among the impacts of those cuts: street maintenance schedules would be extended to more than 26 years - well beyond the recommended 12 years.

• Suspending merit step pay increases for all current employees would save $1.1 million. This is in addition to suspending the annual cost-of-living pay increase for employees.

The second presentation was slightly more optimistic. It was based on a failed sales tax proposal but overall sales tax revenue growth of 0.75 percent both in fiscal years 2009 and 2010. That plan still would require nearly $4 million in cuts; the main differences would be reinstatement of the merit pay increases and smaller reductions in general fund payments to Parks, Health and Transportation.

Burris said that while he is obviously not happy to make the recommendations, it is a necessary step and a response to citizen inquiries about what would happen if the proposed sales tax doesn't pass.

"The things that I'm recommending are difficult, they're uncomfortable, but they're something that is necessary for us to consider," Burris told council.

The responses

Another significant proposed cut is the elimination of $587,177 in contributions to nonprofits and charities.

Councilman Dan Chiles expressed concern about the potential impact on nonprofit service partners such as Urban Districts Alliance and Discovery Center - and to the citizens for whom those groups provide its services.

"People are really happy with the services they get, and to just say we're going to cut a donation isn't enough," Chiles said. "We need to drill a little deeper and look at exactly what that would mean to the services being provided. We need to put a human face on this issue."

Councilwoman Cindy Rushefsky noted that she is concerned about the cuts' impact on the high quality of life the city has spent decades trying to develop, a concern echoed by Burris.

"I don't want to make any of these recommendations, but if our hand is forced and we had to do it, I think essentially what we're doing is setting Springfield back a decade or two in terms of quality of life," Burris said. "The city departments ... have done such hard work to create that high quality of life for Springfield, and then we're going to systematically dismantle it. That's really tough."

Burris also said city staff tried to focus on finding the money through budget cuts rather than charging additional fees, though Rushefsky said she'd like to see more options for additional revenue similar to a proposal in the budget to look for city-owned property that could be sold to recapitalize general revenue.

"I think the public has to realize that if they want services, they're going to have to be paid for somewhere," she said. "If they're not paid for, there won't be those services."

Overall, Burris said that he regretted having to make any of the recommendations he presented to council - but he felt it was a necessary part of his job.

"We just want to give you an idea of the scope and the magnitude of the cuts that might be necessary if the sales tax doesn't pass," he told council members. "It's common for people to say, 'Cut the fat out of government.' But the fat left years ago. We're into muscle and bone at this point."