One hundred Tacoma police officers and firefighters facing the budget ax will get up to a 30-day reprieve after the City Council unanimously approved a plan Tuesday to delay proposed public-safety layoffs amid ongoing negotiations with labor unions.
As part of the measure, the council directed interim City Manager Rey Arellano to conduct an outside review of his staff’s budget projections through 2014 as a way to assure the public that they’re accurate.
“I think it’s important in a city manager form of government to do a check of the facts and to report back to the citizenry on our fact check,” said Councilman Jake Fey, the measure’s primary sponsor.
The council’s action comes a week after Arellano and his department heads detailed a controversial budget plan that calls for laying off 167 city workers and making other cuts as a way to close most of a projected $31 million shortfall to the 2011-12 general fund.
Tuesday’s measure only delays proposed pink slips to police and fire employees. Cuts proposed to other city departments – including laying off 67 non-public-safety employees and mandating furloughs and other wage cuts to nonunion staff and directors – will continue toward a Jan. 5 implementation date.
Last week’s layoff announcements spurred Tacoma’s rank-and-file police and fire unions to notify the council they’re willing to talk about layoff alternatives– including pay cuts – if the council gives them more time.
“Everything’s on the table,” Ryan Mudie, president-elect of Tacoma’s fire union Local 31, said after Tuesday’s council vote. “We’re looking at creative and innovative solutions, not just pay cuts.”
Since the budget crisis emerged, some citizens and city employees have questioned the accuracy of the city’s projections. Tacoma’s police union separately has hired a forensic accountant to review the figures.
Earlier Tuesday, City Finance Director Bob Biles detailed his latest projections to the council, partly based on actual revenues garnered through November. The projections show the shortfall remains at a $31 million pace though year’s end 2012, Biles said.
Still, council members agreed to spend up to $30,000 for the outside audit from the council’s contingency fund, a rainy-day reserve account separate from the general fund. The audit’s results are expected to be reported to the council by Jan. 10.
While supportive of the proposal, Mayor Marilyn Strickland warned the council earlier Tuesday that “the longer we put these (budget) decisions off, the more expensive it becomes.”
City budget officials have said that should current projections hold true, time is of the essence. The longer that cuts are delayed, the more deeply the city will need to cut later to balance the budget, they’ve said.
Also Tuesday, the council approved three options to raise more revenues to help deal with the budget crisis, including upping annual business-license fees from $80 to $90, increasing false-alarm fees from $60 to $100 and increasing fines for red-light and speeding camera tickets from $101 to $124.
The measures collectively will collectively raise about $900,000 next year. Several other revenue options remain under consideration and could be voted on next week.
Council members also unanimously approved a motion Tuesday to forgo a $1.5 million general fund transfer into the council’s contingency fund next year. Instead, that money will stay in the general fund and be used to “help mitigate some of the layoffs,” said Councilman Joe Lonergan, who proposed the idea.
Lewis Kamb: 253-597-8542
lewis.kamb@thenewstribune.com
Twitter: @lkamb
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