Glendale may slash $4 million in city services

Glendale officials will introduce a budget next week that would slash millions in city services and serve several employees with pink slips.

City Council members have indicated support for roughly $4 million in service cuts — including elimination of all programming at Deukmejian Wilderness Park and police-sponsored athletics programs for at-risk youth — as they try to fill a projected $18-million budget gap.

“It’s been a difficult year, and I suspect we’re going to have more difficult years ahead of us,” City Manager Jim Starbird said.

It is the fourth year in a row that the City Council has had to grapple with a multimillion-dollar deficit in the general fund, which pays for such basic public services as police and libraries.

Glendale had been able to stave off the layoffs and furloughs that have become common throughout state and local governments, but no longer, city officials said.

With more than 100 vacant positions already shaved from the books, this year’s budget calls for shedding dozens more — at least nine of which are currently filled full-time positions.

Among the proposed cuts are several police-sponsored youth programs, which had been on the chopping block in 2009 but were saved.

“The cuts we are accepting regrettably,” Mayor Laura Friedman said.

Absent from the chopping block are the proposed closure of the Casa Verdugo Branch Library and the conversion of the Chevy Chase Library to a community center — moves that council members rejected in the wake of vocal community opposition.

More than half of the cuts come from the Public Works and the Community Service and Parks departments, which would see such services as litter removal from sidewalks and swimming programs at Glendale and Crescenta Valley high schools eliminated.

Events sponsored by the Community Service and Parks Department, including penny carnivals, summer movie screenings, concerts and other children’s events, are also on the chopping block.

The City Council is also expected to adopt a slate of fee increases for public services, from pet registration to building permits. City officials say those increases could generate $1.3 million in additional revenue.

Some budget wrangling could continue past the beginning of the July 1 fiscal year as city officials continue to ask employee unions to pick up a greater share of rising pension and healthcare costs.

Glendale employees already pay a share of their medical premiums and contribute 8.5% to 11% of every paycheck to the state pension system.

The City Council is scheduled to hold a public hearing on the budget Tuesday, with a final vote scheduled June 28. The meetings will be held at 6 p.m. in the council chambers.

melanie.hicken@latimes.com