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Dunedin City Manager Proposes 2009 Budget 'With A Heavy Heart'

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By Mark  Schantz | The Suncoast News

Published: July 19, 2008

DUNEDIN - Being forced to lay-off 18 city workers has been a difficult and heart-wrenching task for City Manager Rob DiSpirito.

At a Tuesday morning budget work session, he told commissioners he was presenting next year's budget "with a heavy heart."

He said he and department heads were forced to "construct a budget in the face of extraordinarily difficult financial circumstances."

Faced with state mandated property tax revenue cutbacks, the rising cost of doing business and reduced income from revenue streams, the city was forced to reduce its general fund operating expenditures by $2.6 million.

In his proposed budget, the city's property tax rate of 3.5597 mills will not be increased. A mill is a $1 tax on every $1,000 of assessed property value minus homestead and other exemptions.

To support the city's Enterprise Funds, utility fees will go up by 5.5 percent for water and sewer service. Solid waste pickup will increase by 5.6 percent. Rate hikes were previously approved by the city commission.

The city's operating budget is $60,303,000 and capital budget $27,842,000.

In order to balance the budget without using reserve funds, the city instituted several rounds of cost cutting efficiencies. In the end it still had to lay-off employees, ranging from middle management to division heads and front-line workers, DiSpirito said. The reduction in staff equates to a savings for the city of $851,000.

Last fiscal year, many of those employees who now face lay-offs gave good suggestions on how the city could operate more efficiently and prevent lay-offs, the city manager said.

"While city services will continue in full force, we will not be the same organization without these people. My staff and I feel very badly about this situation. We all wish we weren't in it," he told commissioners.

From January 2007 to October 2008, the city will loose about 33 permanent positions, he noted. This past year, the city was forced to reduce its General Fund budget by $1.4 million, eliminating another 14 full-time positions through attrition and a hiring freeze.

Commissioners praised DiSpirito and staff for their tough task. They also approved the city manager's suggestion to provide the 369 remaining city employees with an opportunity to receive up to a 3 percent merit pay increase. Firefighters, as part of a collective bargaining unit, can earn up to 4 percent.

Offering remaining workers anything less could further reduce morale caused by lay-offs and give staffers the idea that they must form into a collective bargaining unit to better protect salaries they earn, the city manager said.

He noted city employees are being asked to pay a greater share of their health care insurance.

On Tuesday, commissioners gave DiSpirito consensus approval for his general fund budget.

They also agreed not to reduce funding levels for non-profit organizations supported by the city, such as: the Dunedin Historical Society, Dunedin Fine Art Center and Faith in Action.

Mark Schantz can be reached at 727-815-1075 or schantz@suncoastnews.com.

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