Police, fire departments compete for funds with other city services

But Mayor Ernesto Olivares, a retired Santa Rosa police lieutenant, and Sawyer, a former downtown news store owner, balked at the cuts to police and fire, which they said were too deep.

Together with newly elected Councilmen Jake Ours and Scott Bartley, who received police union endorsements in last fall's campaign, they now make up the majority on the seven-member council, and often are at odds with Wysocky and Susan Gorin and Marsha vas Dupre.

They advised Millison to return with a budget that restored $1.3 million to keep Fire Station 10 open part time, added $750,000 to preserve four officer positions and add an analyst, and boosted gang-prevention services by $110,000.

That $2.2 million is expected to come from three places: $1 million from concessions from existing workers, $700,000 in additional cuts from non-public-safety departments, and elimination of the $351,000 surplus Millison's budget envisioned.

Millison would not criticize that decision. She said she had clear direction from the council in how to prioritize spending of the extra sales tax dollars.

"Public safety is a core service for the city, no question about it," she said.

But can the city continue to afford the "baseline" level of service for police and fire? It's a question Councilwoman Susan Gorin says she's been giving a lot of thought in recent weeks.

A separate quarter-cent sales tax increase, Measure O, passed with 70 percent of the vote in 2004. The money was allocated specifically for police and fire funding, setting baseline spending levels that increase from 2005 every year based on inflation. The tax lasts for 20 years.

The baseline for police in 2005 was $35.9 million; next budget year it is $41.6 million. Fire has similarly grown from $21.3 million to $24.6 million, according to figures presented to the council by city finance officials.

The Police Department, which has had its budget cut by about 9 percent since 2007, would have fallen about $2 million under its baseline under Millison's initial draft. But Olivares and Sawyer said they wanted to begin turning that around over two years.

The Fire Department has fallen about 7 percent over the same period, and would have remained over the baseline figure even with Millison's initial draft.

By comparison, the two other largest city departments, public works and recreation, parks and public services, have seen the general fund portions of their budgets reduced by 26 percent and 23 percent, respectively.

Gorin thinks that's inexcusable, and says the constituents she's hearing from are incensed. "I think the public should be questioning the motivations of the council majority in why they feel it's important right now to put more money into police and fire when all of the rest of our services are being slashed," she said.

The Measure O baseline formula set by voters in 2004 is out of whack with the economic reality the city is facing today and needs to be revised, she said.

But Bartley said strong public safety services are intertwined with the city's economic health. Two of the preserved officer positions are dedicated to schools and two to the downtown, he noted.

"Once you lose control of graffiti and that kind of stuff, it can lead to a downturn in the economy," he said.

It's also not fair to demand next year's budget accomplish everything, he said. The council is working on long-term solutions to the city's fiscal problems, such as establishing the pension task force whose work is nearly complete, he said.

"The public has given us eight years to get our house in order," Bartley said.

The proposed budget does not dip into the city's $10.3 million in reserves.

Millison said a city Santa Rosa's size should have a minimum of 10 percent in reserve for emergencies and to demonstrate fiscal health to potential lenders. The council's goal is 15 percent. Reserves under her proposed budget would be 8.8 percent of the general fund.

The biggest unknown is how much the city will be able to save through employee concessions.

Millison's revised budget calls for $1 million in concessions, and she said she's confident employees will step up. Health care, pensions and salary are on the table, she said.

The city is negotiating with most of its bargaining units. The exceptions are the police and fire employees, whose contracts are up next year. But the city is nonetheless requesting concessions from those public safety units, both of which have given some concessions in the past.

Firefighters deferred 3.5 percent and 2.5 percent raises in the past, and by contract are in line for 6 percent raises in the budget year beginning July 1, Millison said. That would cost the city $440,000. But she doesn't expect that to happen.

It's become a pattern Wysocky said he's tired of.

"This is no different from other budget years. We're waiting on public safety to tell us what concessions they'll make, if any," he said.

Millison said it's important to note that the additional revenue from the parking proposal and other cuts will help "chip away at" the city's long-term deficit. But much more work remains to make the organization more efficient and sustainable, she said.

"My hope is that they will see this budget not as a fix," she said, "but as a first step in a direction."

You can reach Staff Writer Kevin McCallum at 521-5207 or kevin.mccallum@pressdemocrat.com.