Pomona Looks at Lean Budget

Faced with an $800,000 shortfall and demands for more police protection, a major street repair program and a reduction in the utility tax for residents, City Administrator A. J. Wilson has proposed a budget that he hopes will satisfy most constituents.

The fiscal 1988-89 budget, the first proposed by Wilson since he was hired Feb. 1, would consolidate three city departments into two and impose stringent belt-tightening in others.

The budget includes the hiring of two additional traffic officers for the Police Department, extended library hours, a 2% reduction in the residential utility tax over two years and an ambitious street repair program.

Mayor Donna Smith said she is pleased with some of the increased services and utility tax reduction but is anxious to see the specific line-item budget, which the city administrator is expected to release next week. Wilson and the council will meet for two all-day budget study sessions next Thursday and Friday.

“I really feel (Wilson) has addressed some of the major concerns of the community, but I can’t comment more than that until we see the line items,” Smith said. “It is the council’s budget, so we have to feel comfortable with the way it affects the various departments.”

The budget calls for general-fund expenditures of about $41.8 million, an increase of 6% over last year’s $39.4-million budget.

However, Wilson said the new budget reflects only a 3.6% increase in real spending from the general fund, since about $1 million will be spent to augment the capital improvement program to repair streets. The money would be generated entirely from additional license fees charged to businesses.

Businesses would also have to pay higher utility taxes to offset a reduction in the tax for residential utility customers. Wilson has pledged to reduce the tax--currently 11% for all utility customers--to 9% for residents by July, 1990, with a first reduction to 10 1/2% planned for next January.

Wilson has proposed several alternatives to offset his proposed cut in the residential utility tax. These include raising the maximum amount of utility tax that can be charged annually to any business from $36,000 to $72,000, or assessing an employee tax of $26.50 per worker on each business.

Support Withheld

Business leaders who have met with Wilson have withheld support of the $1-million capital improvement effort until Wilson works out a precise plan detailing what types of repairs would be made.

Karl S. Cayford, executive vice president of the Chamber of Commerce, said the business community is concerned about the prospect of paying higher utility taxes and business license fees but is not necessarily opposed to Wilson’s proposals.

“They’re willing to carry their share of the load, but they want to make sure it’s really their share,” Cayford said. “One of the concerns of local business is to try to keep costs down and remain competitive with business in other areas.”

Wilson said he can work out a plan to restructure the utility tax in a manner acceptable to business owners. He added that the $1-million capital improvement program will upgrade the streets that businesses use daily.

“I think most of them will see that the capital improvement program I’m recommending will be of benefit to them,” Wilson said.

Decay of Streets

In recent years, the City Council has pared funding for the city’s capital improvement program to avoid budget deficits. Wilson said these cuts have resulted in the decay of city streets, which he hopes to reverse with a five-year capital improvement program.

“You’re going to hear about capital improvements from me over and over again,” Wilson said. “We need $6 million a year in capital improvements, and we’ve had $3 million.”

Repairs such as patching and sealing streets must be made soon or the city will have to completely rebuild some streets at a much higher cost, Wilson said.

“It’s sort of like the TV ad where the repairman says, ‘You can pay me now for the oil filter or you can pay me later for the engine,’ ” Wilson said. “I think that’s where we are with a lot of these capital improvement projects.”

Wilson’s proposed budget urges frugal management of city departments. Revenue for the current fiscal year was $800,000 less than anticipated, although the shortfall has been made up by lower personnel costs resulting from a hiring freeze imposed by Wilson.

‘Productivity Goals’

Wilson is also requiring directors of city departments to meet “productivity improvement goals,” otherwise known as spending cuts, totaling $440,000. These savings are to be realized through cutting unnecessary expenditures in operating budgets, excluding savings from personnel attrition caused by the hiring freeze, Wilson said.

In addition to cutting spending, Wilson said he wants city departments to “become entrepreneurial and try to produce revenue with their services.”

For example, Wilson said the two additional traffic officers could pay for themselves by writing more traffic citations, though he stressed that he is not using the police as a revenue-generating tool.

“The real goal here isn’t to raise money,” Wilson said. “The real goal is to slow people down.”

Councilman C. L. (Clay) Bryant said he will reserve comment on Wilson’s spending program until he sees the specifics next week. However, Bryant said he is concerned that Wilson is not doing enough to bolster the city’s understaffed police force.

‘Haven’t Made a Dent’

“If you put more people on traffic, you’re still not addressing the major problems of the city,” Bryant said. “We haven’t even made a dent in the gang problem. That’s the kind of thing that needs to be dealt with, not traffic.”

Wilson also wants to hire two civilian staff members to investigate traffic accidents. Sworn police officers would then be able to patrol the streets during the time they currently spend filling out accident reports, he said.

Wilson is also hoping to reduce crime by lighting all of the city’s 5,155 street lights, 465 of which were turned off in 1982 as a cost-cutting measure. The lack of lighting has been a common complaint voiced by residents at community forums throughout the city during the past three months.

While turning on all street lights is expected to cost the city an additional $60,000 during the coming fiscal year, Wilson said it will “expand the eyes of the Police Department.”

Other measures proposed by Wilson include:

Extending hours of operation of the Pomona Library, enabling the library to stay open late two more evenings a week.

Increasing after-school programs for children of working parents, which would be supported entirely through fees. Such programs are important, Wilson said, “to help attract young working families to the housing market in Pomona.”

Transferring responsibility for enforcing parking regulations from an outside contractor to the Police Department. Wilson said this would result in more revenue from parking tickets. He also wants the city treasurer’s office to establish a more stringent collection system for unpaid parking tickets.

Eliminating the city’s Management Services Department. Its responsibilities would be split between the departments of administration and finance, saving $100,000 in overhead.

Expanding code enforcement to remove weeds from land where owners do not maintain the property. The program would support itself through tax liens placed on the properties cited.

Bryant said that the proposed budget does not cut enough positions from the City Hall work force and that the utility tax reduction recommended by Wilson is too small. Nonetheless, Bryant, who was among the most vociferous critics of former City Administrator Ora Lampman, said he is encouraged by Wilson’s performance so far.

“This man is a manager,” Bryant said. “He knows what the hell he’s doing. I think he’s doing a good job. I don’t have any evidence to support that yet, but I have a gut feeling that he’s doing well.”