Fiscal Year 2013-2015 Special Budget Meeting

POLICY TRADEOFFS & SERVICE BUYBACKS Unfreeze or Restore Department Director or Other Administrative Positions The proposed budget includes freezing or eliminating a number of managerial and general administrative positions, including freezing the Administrative Services Director ($230,000), freezing the Community Services Director ($230,000), and eliminating the Executive Assistant to the Administrative Services Director ($112,000). Unfreezing and filling the director positions would result in improved performance of these functions including increased efficiency and effectiveness and, more importantly, increased capacity of our existing staff. This would also put in place the organizational structure which the City Council, on two occasions has approved and provided the associated funding. TOTAL COST $572,000 Unfreeze or Restore Finance and Technology Positions The proposed budget includes freezing or eliminating a number of General Purpose Fund positions that are vacant, e.g., finance positions, and one technology position. Within Treasury, a vacant manager position overseeing retirement functions was eliminated at a savings of approximately $200,000. This workload will be distributed among busy existing staff and its restoration would greatly assist capacity within this critical function. Two vacant Account Clerk II positions were frozen in the Police Department at a savings of approximately $150,000, which will result in delays in billing and collections. A vacant accounting supervisor position in the Controller’s Office was also frozen saving approximately $150,000, which will require distributing this workload among busy existing staff. A vacant Management Intern position in the City Administrator’s Budget Office was eliminated at a savings of approximately $15,000. Finally, a vacant Telecommunications System Engineer position was eliminated for a savings of approximately $140,000, one of the only reductions in that function. Internal service departments have been severely cut over past years and any restoration of these positions would greatly assist with managing workload, preserve service levels help mitigate capacity issues. TOTAL COST $655,000 Restore Expenditure Reductions in Elected Offices The proposed budget includes 5% reductions in baseline General Purpose Fund expenditures in FY 2013-14 and 10% total reductions in General Purpose Fund expenditures in FY 2014-15 to all elected offices, including the Mayor, City Council, City Attorney, and City Auditor. These are the same reduction levels requested of all departments in the budget instructions. Restoring these reductions would require approximately $600,000 in FY 2013-14 and $1.2M in FY 2014-15. TOTAL COST Y1: $600,000/Y2: $1,200,0001 1 Y1 = 2013-2014 and Y2 = 2014-2015 A - 2