Mayor Mike Cooper is busy making preparations to submit a budget to the Edmonds City Council, probably in late October.

As part of those preparations, Cooper had each city department head prepare information on their needs for next year.

Department heads each presented a detailed report, including preliminary compilations of revenue projections and historic information on how budget cuts have affected that department, and divulged what that department is proposing to do for the next year.

The presentations were made during a budget workshop Tuesday night.

“The goal of these presentations is to provide information and hear feedback to assist in a more collaborative process of making the 2011 budget,” Mayor Cooper said.

Also present were Edmonds City Council members Buckshnis, Petso, Peterson, Plunkett and Council President Bernheim, as well as department heads, staff and members of the public.

First up was Finances and Informational Services director Lorenzo Hines, who presented a financial overview.

Hines said city funds are down about $1.5 million with the economy still struggling.

“We’re hoping things don’t get worse,” he said.
He also noted “three big things that are driving the budget.”

They are:
    A projected 9 percent decrease in assessed value for the city;
    Reduced sales tax levels will continue into 2011;
    Potential Factor – Initiatives affecting the Liquor Control Board could result in loss of LCB related revenues.

Hines also listed financial management actions taken by the city in recent years, including:
Expenditure reductions or savings implementations
    2001 SnoIsle Library Annexation; $1 million annual savings
    2003 Expenditure Cuts of $1.2 million
    2008 Expenditure Cuts of $390,350
    2009 Expenditure Cuts of $600,251
    2009 Fire District 1 Contract

Revenue Increases
    2003 and 2009 EMS Levy
    2003, 2004, 2006, 2007 Banked Capacity
    2004 Olympic View Water District Franchise
    2004, 2005, 2007 LID Guarantee Fund Transfer
    2003, 2007, 2008, 2009 Utility Tax
    2007 Sales Tax Sourcing
    2009 EMS Transport Fees
    2009 Transportation Benefit District $20 Annual Vehicle Fee
    2009 Development Service Fees
    2009 Business License Fees

One thing is clear; Edmonds has historically run a lean city.

Employees aren’t sitting around doing nothing. Cutting back on staff to save money is not an option unless voters decide they want to forego services as well.

Some departments also traditionally spend less than their budget. There aren’t a lot of “excesses” to cut.

For instance, Edmonds Municipal Court has had a 47 percent increase in cases filed with the court since 2005, growing from 5,318 cases to 7,853. At the same time gross revenues have increased from $717,539 to $1,247,883 and net revenues have exceeded expenses (2009) by $140,682.

The municipal court makes money!

“I’m proud of these figures,” Municipal Court Judge Douglas J. Fair said. “But I can’t take credit for them. They come from increased filings from the police department.”

Judge Fair can take some of the credit. Those figures all came about at the same time that staffing has decreased.

City, state or federal laws mandate some of the services that city departments perform. Other services are discretionary.

The municipal court provides mandated court hearings, data entry, probation DUI and domestic violence monitoring, fine collections and processing of Judicial Orders. These services cannot be cut.

Discretionary services provided by the court include passports, electronic home monitoring, other probation services, night court and local fine collection. It is possible to cut some of these services, but that won’t necessarily save any money.

For instance, passport processing and locally supervised electronic home monitoring generated $27,814 of revenue last year, which was 20 percent of the net revenues of the court.

And cutting local collection of fines would mean turning them over to a outside collection agency, which is not necessarily a community-friendly act.

Judge Fair estimated that cutting one position from his staff could net the city around a $22,000 savings, but not without a reduction of desirable services.

Other departments face the same dilemma.

The Edmonds Police Department is continuing the cuts made for the 2009-10 budget.

Those include:
    Loss of the DARE program, including one FTE (full time employee) entry level police officer;
    Crime prevention volunteer program including two part-time staff;
    Reserve Officer program;
    One FTE Animal Control Officer (duties include animal control, parking control, ordinance enforcement (abandoned cars etc) and litter.

 “Last year, the mayor asked us to come up with cuts,” Police Chief Al Compaan said. “They totaled about $245,000.
“Those same cuts are in effect this year. Plus, we now have 55 police officers. We were budgeted for 56, but we will not be filling that unfilled position.”

Down the line of city departments and services, the results are much the same. In years past, they’ve been squeezed as much as possible. Any more cuts will likely result in a loss of services that residents won’t like.

Another “for instance,” Edmonds Public Works has a staff of 75-78.
Bremerton, which is about 10 percent smaller than Edmonds, has a staff of 135 Public Works FTE.

Cuts to Parks, Recreation and Cultural Services, possibly more than any other department, will hurt citizens where they like it the least.

Edmonds is known for everything this department encompasses. Cuts would not only cut into citizens’ enjoyment and use of their city, but could cut dramatically into tourists and others coming to our city to also use these services.

In the end, balancing the city budget without cutting into important city services is going to be extremely difficult.

And it’s probable that citizens will be asked to pass a levy early next year to allow the city to continue on in it’s “lean” mode, or cut even further into services.