The City Council Finance Committee will begin its dive into the details of Mayor Alvin Brown’s proposed budget in one week, the start of a monthlong series of hearings to determine the fiscal fates of City departments, jobs and debt.
“This will be a very deliberate process, at least, or more deliberate than last year,” said Council member John Crescimbeni, chair of the Finance Committee.
“We’re not going to be running freight-train meetings. We are going to give everyone the opportunity to ask questions. It’s going to be very, very thorough,” he said.
Brown’s proposed $945 million general fund budget includes a reduction in 493 full-time employee positions saving $26 million, a $4.3 million cut to the Jacksonville Public Library system and cuts to the Jacksonville Sheriff’s Office — though technically its budget increased — that Sheriff John Rutherford has claimed will result in layoffs and a reduction in service.
Of the proposed 71 position reductions within the library, 46 of the positions are filled and 25 are vacant.
Those 493 positions do not include Jacksonville Sheriff’s Office reductions, which Rutherford has said will happen under the current budget figures.
In mid-July, he said initial cutbacks would mean eliminating 319 positions, 189 of which are or will become vacant in fiscal 2012.
No police officers were among the initial figures, but additional cuts of around $17 million due to a budget “lapse” would mean 95 officers being laid off, Rutherford has said.
He unsuccessfully lobbied to have the “rolled-back” millage rate for the City to collect the same amount of property tax next fiscal year as the current fiscal year.
The amount collected would have been around $23 million, part of which he said could have been used to fund continued operation of the Community Transition Center and result in no police layoffs.
Legislation currently in Council would let the office keep its savings from the current fiscal year to fund the positions and part of the center.
According to the latest list of position cuts, among the heavier hit departments is Public Works, which has 123 line-item positions — 95 filled and 28 vacant — being eliminated.
Due to the recent Council vote to keep the millage rate the same as last year, the Finance Committee will not have that $23 million to offset losses or pay down debt.
In addition, Council Auditor Kirk Sherman has voiced concern about $38 million of questionable revenues and expenditures, including the $17 million Jacksonville Sheriff’s Office “lapse,” within the proposed budget.
The committee will review Sherman’s concerns as well as other discrepancies and accounting errors that are found within a budget, Crescimbeni said.
The hearing schedule consists of four daylong reviews and three half-day reviews, with additional dates added if needed.
Crescimbeni said that departments, such as the Jacksonville Sheriff’s Office, have been scheduled for additional time this year in anticipation of lengthier discussion. He said every department will have the opportunity to address concerns.
The Jacksonville Sheriff’s Office budget is scheduled for a two-hour discussion Aug. 17.
Crescimbeni also said additional time will be allotted for review of departments that were not affected by Brown’s government reorganization last year, with budgetary and employee data from the past 4-5 years to be considered.
“Just comparing it to last year’s adopted (departmental budgets) is a narrow view,” he said.
Savings found by the committee throughout the hearings would not necessarily be applied toward funding jobs positioned for elimination, he said.
Instead, areas funded from any potential savings will be a result of committee work and determined by the committee, he said.
Last year, Council member and former Finance Chair Richard Clark and the committee focused on paying for needed services and items with cash instead of relying on the banking fund in an effort to help reduce long-term debt.
As an individual Council member, Crescimbeni said he would review the proposed library cuts, which he said seemed to be disproportionate to other cuts.
He said other Council members would likely push for funds being applied toward public safety and other areas of concern.
“Everyone is going to have their own perspective,” he said.
The budget must be approved before the start of the Oct. 1 fiscal year.
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