Salt Lake budget moves forward without a tax hike

Fire service will continue at station No. 5, city vehicles can be filled with gas and downtown parking remains free on Saturdays and weekday evenings.

All in all, it was a successful Salt Lake City Council work session Tuesday.

With some staff restructuring that included the elimination of a handful of positions — most of them already vacant — and opting to treat some ongoing expenses as one-time costs, the City Council cleared the major hurdles of the 2008-09 fiscal-year budget without raising property taxes.

It was 10:30 p.m. when council chairwoman Jill Remington Love uttered the magic words — "We're balanced" — marking the end of a budget season made more challenging by the rising costs of fuel and health care.

The City Council will adopt the $209 million general-fund budget June 17.

"Because of the size of the task, there's a feeling of achievement," said first-year councilman Luke Garrott. "But it doesn't feel like a victory because of all the cuts that had to be made."

The council opted to eliminate three firefighter positions and move fire personnel from administrative posts into the field. That action, along with some reshuffling of clerical personnel and restructuring of the city's Community Emergency Response Team, allows the city to maintain fire operations at station No. 5, 1023 E. 900 South.

Mayor Ralph Becker's budget proposed to devote the station exclusively to emergency medical responses, saving about $470,000.

The short-lived idea of doing away with free downtown parking on weekends and evenings was officially put to rest with very little discussion Tuesday night. Council members had been inundated with complaints from downtown merchants and shoppers since suggesting the change as a way to gain an estimated $300,000 in revenue.

"We're going with what the mayor recommended," Love said.

Becker's budget proposed across-the-board fee increases that included boosting the fine for an expired-meter parking ticket from $10 to $15. The tickets get more expensive — reaching $105 — if not paid on time.

David Everitt, Becker's chief of staff, said the idea of eliminating free metered parking downtown after 6 p.m. and on Saturdays was explored by the mayor's office but dismissed because the negative impacts outweighed the benefits.