The City of San José is facing yet another year of budget deficits. The projected deficit for FY 2010-2011 is over $100 million. We have cut the fat out of our budget and have laid off City and Redevelopment Agency employees. Our situation has been further exacerbated by the terrible job the state legislature did of closing their deficit by taking funding from local municipalities. Unfortunately for the City, we cannot do the same. We must make difficult decisions and have the courage to change our approach to budgeting.
I have been pushing for three years for the City to engage in the kind of common-sense budgeting that has become commonplace in San José homes during this global economic recession. We have to categorize city services into three areas. The first is what we must do or those services the city is required to provide by law; for example: police and fire, water pollution control, infrastructure and building inspection. The next is what we should do; for example: parks and libraries, community centers and senior services. The last is what we would like to do after we have funded the “must do” and “should do” items.
We can all think of things that we would like the city to provide, and while I am working to get the city to a point where we can once again discuss those items, for now we must focus on our essential city services. This is a common-sense approach that is unfortunately lost on entrenched city administrators and influential interest groups.
In the past, the City has cut every department by the same percentage, with the exception of public safety which is cut by a lower percentage. That is like you deciding you are going to cut your budget for eating out, going to movies and paying your rent or mortgage by the same percentage. Obviously, keeping a roof over your head is more important than going to the movies or out to eat. You know what everything costs and how much money you have to spend. You prioritize your spending based on your needs. It’s about time that we start doing the same.
The second thing that we need to do at the City is start looking at the line item details in every department budget to determine where exactly they are spending your money. Until now, the budgets that we receive from the departments list their proposed changes, but not specifically how they are spending your money. For example, we see a recommendation to cut crossing guards, but not how much money is being spent on public art.
In another example, the staff recommended cutting the Citizen CPR training program, but thought nothing of spending $50,000 to pay for billboards and other advertising that San José Parks are now “smoke free.” I was shocked to learn that the City was spending $50,000 to augment the marketing budget for the Mariachi Festival. This event is put on by an outside organization and has already received $1,000,000 in marketing assistance from the City—this at a time when we were considering a staff recommendation to close a fire station. One of those is clearly a “must do” and the other is at best a “would like to do.”
Dissenters might suggest that this is too simple an approach; that the programs are in different departments and are funded by different pots of money. My response to that argument is that it is time we realize that all of the City’s funds are public money and we should be spending it in line with the public’s priorities.
For the past three years, the City has conducted phone surveys and invited neighborhood leaders to attend budget priority setting sessions. The results are always the same. People care about public safety, parks, libraries and infrastructure maintenance. Surprisingly, the proposed budget recommends cuts to those essential city services. San José voters have voted to increase taxes to pay for better parks and libraries and new police and fire facilities, yet City bureaucrats recommend cutting those services first. This needs to stop. This budget crisis has given us the opportunity to prioritize our essential city services over superfluous pet projects. I need your help to convince my colleagues that your priorities should be our priorities.
Help me make your priorities the City’s priorities. Together we can ensure that our “must do” services are not confused with our “would like to do” services.
Pete, I don’t think we will ever solve the budget issue until we start looking at where the problems started in the first place. Please take a look at the ones who make the budget recommendations, they are the ones who always keep their jobs. The workers like myself, are the ones on the front line doing the “real” work, but we are always the ones who get laid off.
Lets start looking at the management, NOT the workers ! If your sitting behind a desk and not pushing a broom, turning a screwdriver, cutting the grass, putting out a fire, or walking a beat, then the city doesn’t need YOU ! We are adults, we don’t need so much management !
Just one view from a real hard working city worker.
Mr. City Employee… who hopes to keep their job.
“San José voters have voted to increase taxes to pay for better parks and libraries and new police and fire facilities, yet City bureaucrats recommend cutting those services first.”
This is how the game has been played in San Jose for years. City staff cuts these services first because they know San Jose voters are suckers for approving tax increases to support these services. Who would support a tax for “smoke free” billboards and marketing for the Mariachi Festival?
Thank you Pete for pushing for City bureaucrats accountability and engaging in common sense budgeting and categorize city services into three areas
You will not be successful until the rest of Council requires the City bureaucrats to be accountable for:
+ all city spending and detailed list where taxes go
rather than making misleading reports and comments
+ how many city employees do we actually have and are paying for, not misleading City manager budget game of:
a) authorized employees and budget funded
b) authorized employees and not budget funded
c) use excess employee payroll funds for hidden city projects or many hidden employees
+ how many contractors do we have and what are the costs
We will never solve our decade long city budget crisis until we get costs and actual staff numbers accountability
Elections are coming, so ask Mayor and Council where are taxes spent and watch most of them avoid answering since most of Council DOES NOT KNOW
San Jose pays it city workers lots of money so high cost workers should be mostly self managed if not city is paying too much
What is the ratio of city employees to managers and to senior staff?
Should be 5-10 or more workers to 1 manager and 5 – 8 managers to 1 senior staff If less employees and managers ( 3-5 to 1 )- too much overhead – cut high priced excess managers and senior staff
How many layers of management?
Should be at most 3-4 layers above workers if more cut excess management layers since they get in way of efficient workers
As city cuts more employees – city needs to cut management so cut excess supervisors, managers, assistant directors, directors and assistant city manages not workers doing the work – save millions and dozens of workers jobs
Pete, does the City still have 15 employees in the Dept. of Cultural Affairs? Shouldn’t basic services come first, not last? Far better to have 15 more police officers that teary-eyed, pencil pushers who majored in sociology or ethnic studies.
Steve, I think I recall hearing that the combat zone annexations are a result of San Jose screwing the County out of millions of dollars of incremental property taxes lost to RDA activity. The City now must act equitably and square things with the County. Equity in Government… what will they think of next?!
Not likely you could hire 15 police officers for the price of the evil Cultural Arts folks. Nice try, though.
but I’d bet you could hire 10 cops for the price of the Dept. of Cultural Affairs; and another 7 for the price of the 10% for the arts program.
What 10%? Are you talking about the 2% for public art?
whatever
Pete,
Thanks for the thoughtful column.
Just a question. Why is the City of San Jose going ahead with plans to annex hundreds of pockets of county neighborhoods, many of which have been neglected and crime ridden? I went to the City of San Jose website and got information regarding the annexations of the county land. The link is below. It says the city is now responsible for all the infrastructure and public safety of these neighborhoods. Speaking specifically of the police department they are already stretched dangerously thin and now have the responsibility of providing police services to these former county pockets. No extra officers have been added to patrol these areas which has diluted services for everyone and made the officers job that much more dangerous. I am sure other city departments will also be affected trying to provide services. I say all of the annexations should be put on hold and it is too bad we can’t give back what has been turned over to the city already.
http://74.125.155.132/search?q=cache:o8k9k6W7cr0J:www.sanjoseca.gov/planning/annex/+“city+of+san+jose”+annexing+county+santa+clara&cd=2&hl=en&ct=clnk&gl=us
> We have cut the fat out of our budget . . .
I’m wondering if it has ever happened in the entire history of the cosmos (since the Big Bang) that a city bureaucrat has ever said: “Oh, wow, times are really good, now, so we have added a lot of fat to the budget”?