The City Manager has asked City Council to approve the layoffs of 44 police officers and a departmental reorganization to cut another $5.1 million from this year’s budget. I’ve scheduled four public hearings this month in our neighborhoods so that residents can tell council what their priorities are as we grapple with the City Manager's proposed mid-year correction and as we anticipate a projected $33 million deficit for 2012.
City Manager Milton Dohoney, Jr. presented his mid-year budget adjustment plan to cut $5.1 million through police layoffs and departmental reorganization to council’s Budget and Finance Committee on August 1. Council will meet in a special session on August 30 to vote on the recommendations. Dohoney's plan would:
- Eliminate 50 full-time positions. Forty-four police officers would be laid off; if the city does not secure a federal grant, another 50 officers could be laid off next year.·
- Disband the Office of Environmental Quality, moving the department director to Public Services;· Move the Department of Community Development to the Department of Planning and Buildings;
- Eliminate the White Goods Collection program for the rest of this year.
Without new sources of revenue, it will be impossible for council to balance the budget without cutting priority services that are needed to keep our neighborhoods safe, clean and healthy for every Cincinnati family. Council needs to hear from residents who value and use the city’s health clinics, school nurse program, pools, and other threatened services. While we may have a very lean budget in 2012, it should not be mean and it should, at a minimum, guarantee all our neighborhoods receive services that combat blight.
It is important that everyone understand the budget basics. The 2011 General Fund (GF) Budget is $355 million. 69% of the GF budget goes to Fire and Police. 84% of the GF budget is for personnel. 90% of all personnel is unionized.
From 2000 through 2011 the combined Fire and Police GF budgets increased by 35.6%. During this same period, non-safety department GF budgets decreased by 28.6%.
Staffing in Police and Fire during this period remained stable, while staffing in non-Public Safety departments fell by 44% in the General Fund.
Deep cuts in non-safety departments and slight increases in revenues helped offset the General Fund budget increases for Police and Fire.
But, the rapid rise in employee health care cost- a 203.2% increase, and the 55.6% in pension contributed to the rise of chronic deficits in spite of constant cutting of non-safety General Fund departments and programs.
This year actions by the state have compounded the City's deficit problem. The state cut the Local Government Fund revenues to the City by $4.4 million in 2011 and by $9.2 million in 2012. The legislature also eliminated the Estate Tax resulting in a $13 million revenue loss beginning in 2013.
So even if we manage to balance our budget through continuing to cut, the State's actions put us further in the proverbial budget hole.
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