Payson eliminating 11 jobs amid budget cuts

PAYSON — Five city employees will lose more than the merit or cost-of-living pay increases denied their co-workers in Payson's $25.4 million fiscal-year 2010 budget.

They will lose their jobs.

The job cuts could take place over the next two years, totaling 11 positions. Six positions are already unfilled and will be eliminated, city administrator Richard Nelson said.

Positions proposed to be eliminated are in maintenance, streets, landfill and the planning and zoning departments, Nelson said.

Residents may also feel the pinch with a 2 percent rise in utility costs.

Unlike many cities, Payson is operated on transfers from the enterprise fund, which includes water, power and storm-drain fees residents pay monthly.

So it wasn't unusual this year for the city's proposed budget to include a transfer of $2.2 million for administration in its general fund of $8 million. Many cities are dipping into the enterprise fund to meet shortfalls, but for Payson it's business as usual.

"That's the financial model the city adopted years ago," Nelson said.

Overall, the proposed budget is down $2 million from the current budget. Last year's general fund totaled $9.2 million, but like other Utah cities, Payson has seen a drop in revenue.

City officials don't plan to raise property taxes to make up the difference, and no city services are being reduced — except the front counter at the police station closing an hour earlier.

During the 2008-09 fiscal year, $2.5 million in sales taxes were expected, but just $2.3 million came in, financial officer Jeanette Curtis said. For the next fiscal year, the city is expecting $2.4 million.

Revenues also are down in other areas of the city: Gladstan Golf Course is down $10,000, while landfill revenues fell $350,000. Building permits were down, but a recent upsurge in construction will bring that total out of the red for 2009, Curtis said.

The City Council is expected to finalize the budget Wednesday.

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