Missoula City Council weighs budget

By CHELSI MOY of the Missoulian

Aug. 21, 2008

A heated Missoula City Council budget hearing ended abruptly before

the fireworks could really begin.

After a two-hour debate in which the council skimmed $32,000 from

the 2009 budget, Councilman John Hendrickson passed out a list of
possible cuts totaling $1.5 million, targeting jobs primarily in the Parks
and Recreation Department and suggesting that nonunion employees
pay higher health insurance deductibles.

The council is looking for ways to cut $367,000 out of the city budget,
or otherwise adopt Mayor John Engen's proposed budget, which calls
for a 4.82 percent property tax hike. That comes out to about a $26
increase on a $225,000 market-value home.

The deadline for the city to adopt the fiscal year 2009 budget is
approaching. By mid-September, the amount the city intends to levy
for the coming year is due to the county for inclusion on tax bills.

All of the city's department heads were on hand Wednesday afternoon

to make the plea for keeping their budgets intact. Fire Chief Tom
Steenberg even asked the council to next time ask department heads
to trim their own budgets, rather than “making recommendations
where you may not be aware of the impacts.”

Council members were supposed to submit possible budget reductions

by early this week. Some did, targeting agency gas budgets and
programs within the parks department. There was also discussion
about holding off on filling vacant jobs.

A majority of the council voted to cut $10,000 from the Conservation

Lands Management Plan and $20,000 in general fund money from the
aquatics reserve account. Both of these programs fall within the Parks
and Recreation budget.

Also, council members agreed to scrap $1,950 allocated to cover their

own travel expenses to the annual League of City and Towns
conference, which is held in Missoula in 2009.

Councilwoman Stacy Rye recommended a 10 percent across-the-board

cut to several agency enhancement requests to cover increased fuel
prices in the next year.

“Every department is asking for an enormous amount for fuel,” Rye

said. “Individuals are learning to conserve fuel and the city should as
well.” But that proposal died on a tie vote.

One recommendation by Councilman Bob Jaffe to cut $5,000 from the

mayor's budget for printing of the city's code book and office
guidelines brought criticism from Chief Administrative Officer Bruce
Bender.

That money is most of the total printing budget, Bender said. Those
are only examples of what the mayor's office intends to print, or
“general guides for us,” he said.

The uncertainty of his answer did not sit well with some members of
the council, who agreed to address the issue later. If the description of
the expenditure is just a guideline, Rye wanted to know, “Are any of
these things what they say they are?”

The council needs to know the difference between “general examples”

of expenditures versus concrete line items, said Councilman Dave
Strohmaier.

It wasn't until the end of the meeting that Hendrickson passed out a
sheet of possible cuts to the budget.

The list included cutting back the city's lobbyist expenses, limiting
nondepartmental overtime, examining administrative positions within
the aquatics and recreation divisions, putting a moratorium on all
studies for one year, and getting tough on employees who drive their
city-issued vehicles home.

“This is not a proposal to cut all these positions,” Hendrickson said.

“It's to facilitate a discussion.”

At first, Council President Ed Childers declined to take up the proposal

because of the magnitude of the cuts at such a late date in the budget
process. “I don't want to consider this at all,” he said. “The committee
has been studying the budget for months.”

But a majority of the council members agreed it warrants a discussion.

Eleventh-hour cuts like this are difficult, Bender said after the meeting.
The time to bring these kind of suggestions is earlier in the spring
when departments submit their original budget requests, he said.
The council is scheduled to continue discussions on the budget next
Wednesday, Aug. 27. Bender hopes that none of these new proposed
cuts is approved at that time.

“These positions are critical to the service of the community,” he said.

Reporter Chelsi Moy can be reached at 523-5260 or at

chelsi.moy@missoulian.com.

Copyright © 2008 Missoulian