Proposed Budget Cuts Arts, Recreation, Libraries

Police response times probably would rise, the city’s pools and recreational facilities would be open fewer hours, the city library budget would be cut in half, and arts organizations would get no money under a $1.2-billion budget proposed Tuesday by City Manager John Lockwood.

At a press conference, Lockwood repeated his contention that the city will be unable to maintain existing municipal service levels such as police protection and library hours, unless the council decides to increase taxes or fees. The city must generate an additional $60 million in new revenue if it intends to keep services at the current level, Lockwood said.

“You can only stretch the dollar so far,” Lockwood said. The $1.2-billion budget proposed Tuesday “is not an adequate amount of money in order to fund what we’re used to funding,” Lockwood said. “But it’s all we have.”

Lockwood’s inch-thick budget proposal, which was described as “dead on arrival” by at least one council member, served to rekindle an already acrimonious council debate on whether the city should solve the budget crunch by cutting service levels or by taking the politically difficult step of raising taxes and fees.

Council members will use Lockwood’s proposed budget as the starting point for a series of public hearings on the budget that begin May 24. The council now has the option of accepting Lockwood’s budget or fashioning its own budget by making cuts and/or raising revenue. The council expects to complete its budget by late June or early July, Lockwood said.

Mayor Maureen O’Connor on Tuesday remained adamant that the city’s budget crunch not destroy “people programs,” such as parks and recreation, the library and arts funding, said O’Connor spokesman Paul Downey.

“Her position is identical to what she’s said before,” Downey said. “She is still opposed to raising revenue without putting it to a vote of the people.” O’Connor will review Lockwood’s proposed budget before making her own recommendations, Downey said.

Councilman Ron Roberts said that Lockwood’s budget proposal would “bring some sanity into this (budget) process” by forcing the council to address needed budget cuts and new revenue sources. “Those who have put their heads in the sand and said there’s no problem will now have to address” the shortfall, Roberts said.

Roberts, who earlier this year argued that the city needed to make “substantial cuts” in the upcoming budget, also has stated that the council must raise taxes or fees to reduce the shortfall. Roberts has suggested that council add revenue by increasing business license fees or imposing a new utility bill tax.

Roberts’ argument that new revenue sources are needed runs counter to Councilman Bruce Henderson’s oft-stated claim that there is no budget crisis and that the city could make cuts without seriously endangering services.

While the $1.2-billion budget is by far the largest ever proposed in San Diego, its size is “misleading,” according to Lockwood, because the general fund, which finances police, fire, recreational programs and the library, has only increased to $434.6 million, up from $402 million.

A large part of the proposed increase in the general fund is linked to programs that were approved during the current fiscal year but didn’t require funding until the upcoming fiscal year. For example, the city last year authorized the addition of more than 100 uniformed police officers, but delayed their hiring until late in the year. The full cost of those officers will be felt in the coming year for the first time.

The rest of the $1.2-billion budget covers programs that the council cannot cut, Lockwood said. Programs that have their own funding sources, such as sewer and water treatment, will not be cut back, Lockwood said. “I don’t think there’s one . . . (department) that’s funded by general revenue that will maintain the same level of service,” Lockwood said.

Although the Police Department budget proposed by Lockwood would increase by 3.9% to $145.4 million, up from the current $139.8 million, the department’s level of service would probably deteriorate slightly because the department would have 50 fewer non-uniform personnel, Lockwood said. And, although the number of uniformed officers would remain constant, the population is expected to increase by 25,000, which would move the city farther away from its long-stated goal of two officers per 1,000 residents, Lockwood said.

The library’s current $12.6 million budget would be cut by 47.9% to $6.5 million. That reduction would force branch libraries to cut back hours to an average of 24 hours a week from the current 43 hours a week.

Park and recreation centers would be cut to 24 hours a week, down from 60 hours, and swimming pools would only be open 24 hours a week.

Nonprofit arts organizations in the city, which traditionally have won city funding through the transit occupancy tax (TOT) that is levied upon hotel and motel guests, received no funding in Lockwood’s proposed budget.

Because of the shortfall in revenue, Lockwood instead has proposed using TOT money “to maintain . . . (police, recreation and library services) at the expense of arts and promotions” such as the Holiday Bowl.

“I’m not disagreeing with the arts and promotion community leaders who say that we can’t afford these reductions,” Lockwood said. But Lockwood maintained that, given the current budget crisis, it is more important to fund regular city services than arts and promotions.

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