Provo City Council trims its priorities

PROVO — The Provo City Council on Tuesday trimmed its list of budget priorities for fiscal year 2010 from the $855,000 approved last week to $265,000.

The City Council priorities were in addition to Mayor Lewis K. Billings' proposed budget of $156 million. For the first time, the council added its priorities rather than just accepting the mayor's budget. The final budget must be approved by June 22.

Councilman Steve Turley, the lone dissenting vote on the cuts, suggested during the council work session that layoffs be considered as a way to give department heads more flexibility in further cutting their budgets. Turley said 85 percent of the budget has to do with personnel.

"We have respectively handcuffed ourselves," he said of the mayor's ban on layoffs.

Other council members, including Councilman David Acheson, supported using furloughs as a way to reduce the already tight budget if income falls below expected levels. The proposed general-fund budget balances at $45.3 million.

The council as a whole didn't support either proposal, but they could come up again.

Councilwoman Sherri Hall Everett's motion to approve the reduced priorities included the possibility of raising them as the need arose. It also included funding the now vacant economic development director and city engineer positions in January, and the possibility of dipping into general-fund reserves and enterprise funds, which include income from city utilities.

Billings' proposal already includes transferring more than $1 million from 2009 enterprise fund savings to cover a shortfall in the 2010 budget.

— Rodger Hardy