Mayor Domenic Sarno said the council cut departments while approving a pay increase for itself.
Springfield city councilors Michael Fenton, left, and Jose Tosado, right, said cuts the council made to the fiscal 2012 budget submitted by Mayor Domenic Sarno were reasonable and necessary in difficult financial times..SPRINGFIELD – City councilors on Thursday defended a $2.7 million cut in next year’s budget, saying the mayor’s proposal was too dependent on city reserve funds and presumed fee increases that were never approved by the council.
Mayor Domenic J. Sarno and Finance Department officials said they are evaluating the impact of the budget cuts that were approved Wednesday, and how the cuts will affect city services and layoffs.
Council President Jose F. Tosado and Finance Committee Chairman Michael A. Fenton said the cuts were reasonable and necessary in difficult financial times.
“To start predicting doom and gloom is disingenuous,” Tosado said. “I don’t think that it is going to bring city services in City Hall to a screeching stop.”
The largest cut – totaling $1.7 million – was a 5 percent cut in the non-salary accounts of all city departments. It would require cuts of various expenses that could range from materials and supplies to utility costs and travel, officials said.
In addition, the council eliminated 13 vacant city employee positions that were funded but not filled, for more than $500,000 in savings. The council also cut $100,000 from Police Department overtime, $100,000 from the Finance Department, and $100,000 from Information Technology among other reductions.
Sarno said he and the Finance Department are awaiting reports from city cabinet heads and department heads to gauge the specific impact of the council budget cuts.
“Obviously, what the council has done by their cuts, is going to affect the application of city services and (have) layoff factors,” Sarno said.
Domenic SarnoSarno said the council’s vote, rejecting his plan to use $10.5 million in reserve funds to help balance the budget, will cause him to request a smaller amount. The city currently has a $43.7 million stabilization “rainy day” reserve fund.
The council also eliminated all funding – approximately $240,000 – for the four-person CitiStat department. The department was created four years ago by the now-disbanded Finance Control Board to find ways for overall streamlining, efficiency and accountability in government.
Tosado and Fenton said CitiStat was a “luxury” the city cannot afford at this time. When asked for savings that CitiStat generated this year, the city’s chief administrative and financial officer Lee C. Erdmann listed a $3,800 savings related to the census, but said the department also took a lead in drafting the city’s strategic action plan.
“It was not a cost-effective department,” Fenton said. “We saw it as a luxury and not a necessity.”
Sarno criticized the council for accepting an increase in its own annual pay, from $13,050 per member, to $14,500. He questioned if that was “leading by example.”
Non-bargaining employees including the mayor have a wage freeze and are taking 12 unpaid furlough days, Sarno said.
Tosado said the council had reduced its own pay by 10 percent more four years ago, and now returns to its former $14,500 salary.
The mayor rather than criticizing should be thanking the council, he said. Both Tosado and Sarno are candidates for mayor in the fall election, along with a third candidate, Antonette Pepe.
Councilors said the mayor and his finance team made assumptions of receiving $400,000 a year in new revenues from a proposed increase in the hotel tax. In addition, the budget was based on the assumption of $350,000 in new revenues from a proposed increase in the demand fee for delinquent taxes from the current fee of $5 to a proposed increase to $12.50.
Both Tosado and Fenton said the fee increases were “sneaked” into the budget process, an allegation denied by Erdmann and other finance officials. The finance officials said the fees were disclosed at a recent budget hearing and said the hotel fee was also fully revealed in May.
Finance officials denied any sneak move. While the proposed budget included the new hotel and demand fee revenue, “there was no presumption, just a recommendation,” Erdmann said
The city was planning 13.5 layoffs prior to the council vote. In addition, Sarno had eliminated 54.5 vacant positions.