Council OKs 1-Year Budget, Delays Cuts in Jobs, Services

The City Council has approved a $350-million budget for the fiscal year that began Tuesday, but it delayed some painful cuts to jobs and services.

Mayor Chris Holden persuaded his council colleagues to abandon the city’s usual two-year budget in favor of a single-year budget. The second year is when deeper cuts will have to be made to ensure a balanced budget, city officials said.

The council also agreed to a three-month delay in the elimination of 18 positions in the Department of Water and Power at a cost of $300,000. The cuts are part of an effort to prepare the city-owned utility to compete with the private sector in a deregulated market.

The city’s make-over of the utility will go much smoother with union support and this delay will provide the time to get the unions on board, said City Manager Philip Hawkey.

In the 1998-99 financial year, Hawkey said, he expects to cut an additional 49 DWP positions, of which 46 are filled.

Councilwoman Ann Marie Villicana was the lone dissenter, arguing that deeper cuts should have been made and more money used to pay off the utility debt. The council added back about $1.6 million in cuts suggested by the city manager in the $112.5-million general fund budget.