Police, fire departments are shielded in Tacoma budget cuts – for now

Tacoma’s police and fire departments will see smaller cuts proportionately than other city departments under a plan to close most of projected $31 million general fund budget gap by year’s end, interim City Manager Rey Arellano told the City Council Tuesday.

But if current budget projections hold true – and the city needs to slash even more jobs and services next year – police and fire can expect to shoulder the second round of cuts, Arellano said.

“This is an attempt to try to recognize that our public safety departments are very important and at the core of services we provide to the citizens of Tacoma,” Arellano said.

Arellano publicly detailed his new budget-trimming priorities during the council’s noon study session Tuesday, before he and the council closed the meeting-room door to the public, holding private detailed discussions on labor strategies.

Already, the council has green-lighted Arellano’s plan to pursue what he called his “75-percent option” – a proposal under which he’ll seek to cut $23 million of a projected, worst-case $31 million budget shortfall to the city’s $399 million general fund budget for 2011-12. Under the plan, city officials would determine early next year if even more cuts need to be made.

By last week, Arellano had generally identified where some $17 million in cuts would come from: cutting at least 203 positions, including 126 through layoffs and 68 more by eliminating city positions now held vacant. The city is offering general-government workers who are eligible to retire a $12,000 lump-sum buyout to leave by Jan. 1.

Arellano’s plan also assumed non-union workers and department heads will face mandatory furloughs and some compensation cuts.

That left another $6 million in trims that must be found to meet the $23 million goal. Arellano has since turned to city department heads to come up with more cuts, which they’ve now privately submitted.

But so far, details have been missing – at least publicly – about which city jobs are on the chopping block. On Tuesday, Arellano provided the council with a one-page handout with pie charts that generally show his plan to “front load” initial cuts onto city departments other than police and fire.

Those other departments would bear about 51 percent of the overall $23 million in cuts – or $11.7 million. Meanwhile, fire and police would respectively take trims totaling about $5.7 million (25 percent) and $5.6 million (24 percent).

But if the grimmest forecast holds true, and the city must cut another $8 million next year, police and fire would share the brunt of those trims. Under that scenario, police reductions would total $10.6 million (34 percent of all cuts); with fire cuts tallying $8.7 million (28 percent).

“The idea is to front-load the initial cuts away from police and fire onto other departments,” city spokesman Rob McNair-Huff said.

Also Tuesday, city officials agreed to proceed under Councilman Jake Fey’s suggestion that the council adopt a general mid-term budget adjustment to meet a state requirement by year’s end, but leave details of where actual budget trims will be made until after a series of public workshops. The council will then adopt a formal plan detailing cuts ultimately decided upon in early January, Fey said.

“We need to own the decision and the public should have the opportunity to comment,” Fey said.

The first budget workshop is set for Dec. 6, when Arellano is expected for the first time to publicly present a plan that details which city jobs and services he recommends be cut.

Lewis Kamb: 253-597-8542

lewis.kamb@thenewstribune.com

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