Councilor: Cut city spending

Published 3:46 pm Friday, November 21, 2008

Dennis Dorrah proposes trimming 5 percent from city’s budget for next fiscal year

Baker City Councilor Dennis Dorrah didn’t attend Thursday’s Budget Board meeting, but his proposal caused a bit of a stir.

In a letter dated Nov. 16, Dorrah, citing the weakening economy,

proposed that spending for the current fiscal year “be held to an

absolute minimum” and that the 2009-10 budget be trimmed by at least 5

percent.

The city’s 2009-10 fiscal year starts July 1.

“If the economy turns around soon we may end up with surpluses that

will not be lost,” Dorrah, who was out of town Thursday, wrote to the

Budget Board. “If, as I fear, the downturn lasts for two years or more,

it will have been a fiscally wise decision. Furthermore, I think it

prudent for our city government to tighten their belt just as most of

our citizens and businesses are doing.”

Along with his letter, Dorrah submitted figures that illustrated increases in spending for selected departments and city funds over the past six years. Administrative costs for personnel are up almost 33 percent, for example, and about 43 percent for police personnel and 46 percent for fire personnel.

The wastewater utility fund shows increases of 37 percent for personnel and 39 percent for materials and services between the 2002-03 fiscal year and the current year.

The bottom line: the city’s revenues, including its special funds, increased by about 25 percent while expenditures grew by about 46 percent.

“This comparison is presented only to show that in a number of areas increases in spending have outflanked inflation considerably,” Dorrah wrote.

“There is no doubt in my mind that a five percent cut from 2007/2008 levels is possible. And I do realize that some services may have to be temporarily reduced.”

While he didn’t dispute Dorrah’s figures, City Manager Steve Brocato said it would be fiscally prudent to build up the city’s ending fund balance and place a portion into a seed fund for capital expenditures.

“When we’re all dead, no one will care what we were paid,” Brocato said. “But they will have roads to drive down and an attractive place to do business.”

Brocato told the board he will respond to Dorrah’s letter and that he disagreed with across-the-board cuts.

“If you pull a little effectiveness out of every department, you do nothing but slow them down,” he said.

Brocato said that running a city is simpler than running a business, because revenues and expenses are fixed for the coming year. “Regardless of national inflation issues, (the budget) needs to be bullet proof,” he said.

The last time the Budget Board met, “we were really concerned about inflation,” Brocato noted. But the October drop in prices was the steepest in 61 years, he said.

Still, “governments are growing faster than they should be, and they’re becoming a bigger part of the economy,” he said.

Reasons include the complexity of government, even at the local level, and the increased demands that are being placed on local governments as the federal and state governments devolve.

The city manager made light of talk he’s heard comparing his salary with that of the governor, even offering to trade jobs with Oregon’s chief executive.

“You take the higher salary, and I will take the easier job,” he said with a laugh.

Brocato said he’s asked the Local Government Personnel Institute to compare city staff salaries in Baker City with those of comparable communities, and he promised to share the information with the Budget Board.

Budget Board member Jon Croghan said that considering the current state of relatively lower prices for some materials, the city might actually consider spending more on some items than planned.

“If the income is solid, now is the time to be doing stuff,” he said. “You can get more bang for your buck rather than cutting back.”

Davey Peterson, another board member, agreed. “In poor economic times, people need improvements and infrastructure more than in good times,” he said.

But incoming City Councilor Clair Button said that “rather than thinking our job is to spend it all, I think we need to provide the services that people are looking for. A significant portion of the population says, ‘I am not making that much money and I see my rates going up.’ If there is a way to hold back those rates or reduce them, that is our job.”

Councilor Andrew Bryan said that an across-the-board cut would send the message that “we don’t trust city staff to do the right thing. In difficult times, government tries to support the economy. (The city’s) administrative staff is quite an investment, but it is an important investment.”

The Budget Board heard from auditor Bob Seymour of Guyer and Associates, who plans to finish the city’s audit in January. Seymour offered a primer on the auditing process.

Brocato wants the Budget Board to be present during an upcoming City Council meeting, probably in February, to receive the audit and ask questions of Seymour.