Salt Lake police, fire face cuts, too

It appears no one is protected from the fallout of an economic meltdown, not even those charged with keeping Salt Lake City safe.

A steady decline in sales-tax collections and an anticipated drop in property-tax revenue led Mayor Ralph Becker earlier this month to propose $4.2 million in budget cuts — including nearly $1 million in combined reductions in the city's police and fire department budgets.

The police department stands to lose $669,000 in funding if the cuts are approved by the City Council. City officials propose to trim the department's budget for supplies by 25 percent — a savings of $130,000.

Equipment purchases also would be delayed, including some of the new laptop computers for officers' use in the field ($119,000), replacement radio modem equipment ($116,000) and a fingerprint ID machine for the crime lab ($68,000).

The budget for "cold case" DNA testing also would be reduced by 50 percent, trimming $65,000, and two positions would be kept vacant, saving $74,000.

Fire Department officials propose that about $103,000 in planned equipment purchases be delayed, including protective gear, EMS mannequins and treadmills. The purchase of two fire engines also would be delayed, trimming the city's nondepartmental budget by $243,700.

Another $150,000 budgeted for a consultant to manage the development of a new public safety building also is on the chopping block.

The proposed cuts to the fire and police departments could have been worse, given that funding for law enforcement makes up 43 percent of the city's overall budget. The proposed cuts would trim the police budget by 1.2 percent and the fire budget by 0.8 percent.

"The goal was to protect essential services and avoid mass layoffs," said Helen Langan, Becker's spokeswoman.

A public hearing on the proposed cuts is scheduled for 7 p.m. Tuesday during the council meeting in Room 315 of the Salt Lake City-County Building, 451 S. State. The council also will consider adopting the budget amendments during the meeting.

With help from city department heads, Becker identified cuts that could be made to several divisions — including $66,000 from the mayor's office — without doing away with any city services.

The proposal calls for several vacant positions to remain unfilled through the budget year. Only one position filled by a full-time employee is targeted for elimination.

Becker also is proposing to do away with the city's chief administrative officer position, saving a high-level salary of about $113,000 a year, though the action does not involve a layoff or demotion.

The position is being consolidated with the director of management services post, which will be filled by former CAO Lyn Creswell. The position previously was held by Steve Fawcett, who recently retired.

Most of the proposed budget reductions are one-time cuts, meaning they only apply to the 2008-09 budget.

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