Layoffs within the city’s police and fire departments, cuts in public-library hours and relaxed towing services have been proposed to compensate for the state’s budget deficit.
In response to a request made by Mayor Sue Bauman earlier this month, city department heads submitted proposals Monday for five percent budget cuts within their agencies.
City agency heads were told to come up with the budget reductions after Gov. Scott McCallum announced his state budget proposal Jan. 22 to fix the state’s $1.1 billion budget deficit.
McCallum’s budget proposal eliminates state aid to local governments, a cut that would eliminate $16 million per year from Madison’s budget by 2004.
Proposals for potential budget reductions included potential job layoffs, hiring freezes and decreased funds for city services.
Chief of Police Richard Williams said in his budget memo that a five percent reduction in the Madison Police Department’s 2002 Operating Budget represents $1,989,995.
He proposed leaving existing police officer vacancies unfilled and implementing a plan to lay off several current police officers.
Such cuts would mandate that 19 existing police-officer vacancies remain unfilled, including seven positions created from a federal grant.
Williams said the layoffs would likely come from the department’s patrol division, which employs the “least senior officers.”
Williams also proposed cutting back on towing services, school crossing-guard services, and overtime and special-event pay. He said all budget cuts would affect the department’s ability to serve the city.
“We have reviewed all aspects of the budget and have determined that a five percent reduction will have significant impact on our ability to provide the level of service that the community has come to expect,” Williams said.
Williams also noted the department could actually lose money from federal grants if positions created by the grants fail to be filled.
Fire Chief Debra Amesqua also said budget cuts could lead to job layoffs in the Madison Fire Department.
“For the City of Madison Fire Department the consequences of a five percent reduction are very clear: budget cuts mean layoffs, regardless of how ‘creative’ we are in our quest to keep cuts away from areas that will directly affect the people we are sworn to serve,” Amesqua said in her budget memo.
Amesqua included cutting two emergency apparatus or ambulances’ service, a moratorium on building three new fire stations already proposed by the city, reduction in community programs and other cuts in department assets to account for a $1,337,350 budget chunk.
Other potential budget cuts suggested by city agencies included eliminating the graffiti-removal crew, ceasing to employ private contractors for snowplowing services, eliminating Sunday hours at the Central Library branch, raising overdue library book fees from 20 cents to 25 cents and reducing Madison Metro bus service.
Cuts to the city’s budget will not be finalized until the state Legislature passes a state budget deficit plan. The Legislature is expected to begin deliberating the budget plan this week, and a vote may occur as soon as late March.
