HomeMy WebLinkAbout08/17/2010 03C Citizen Service Request Response RE: Labor Costs; Budget Cuts; Code Violations M E M O R A N D U M
DATE: August 12, 2010
TO: The Honorable Mayor and City Council .
FROM: Cindy Epperson, Deputy Director - Acct/Bud
RE: Response to Tom Allen's request for budget information
At the August 3, 2010 City Council meeting, Tom Allen requested information on the
budget process.
His first request was to look at an "across the board" cut to balance the budget.
Currently, the General Government (i.e. tax supported), budgets are about $60 million.
Therefore, a one percent reduction is about $600,000. However, if as Mr. Allen
suggests, we exempt Police and Fire, which represents about 50% of the General
Government budget, then all the other budgets would need to cut 2% to arrive at the
same amount. Therefore, a 6% reduction that exempts Police and Fire would result in
a 12% reduction for all other operating units.
An "across the board" cut is not practical, as there are mandates that the City is
required by law to pay for, such as indigent defense; LEOFF 1 medical expenses;
• speedy trial laws; debt service; etc. This method of budget development also
disregards Council priorities, as its underlying assumption is that all services have the
same relative value to the community.
The Council has given guidelines for budget development with the Priorities of
Government model, and the City is obligated to balance the budget to meet required
mandates, and deliver services within the model. Council will be giving direction for
budget development in a separate agenda item at the August 17 meeting.
His second request was for average salaries for the different employee /union groups.
The following is a chart of average compensation by group:
# Base Salary / Avg Annual Avg. Annual Avg Annual
Group Positions Def.. Comp Salary Benefits Benefits Sal + Ben
AFSCME 297 $ 13,426,564 $45,207 $5,428,783 $18,279 $63,486
YPPA (Police) 133 10,508,867 79,014 2,954,349 22,213 101,227
IAFF (Fire) 78 5,913,360 75,812 1,646,375. 21,107 96,920
Management 61 5,152,312 84,464 1,425,290 23,365 107,830
Supervisors 56 3,972,212 70,932 1,339,236 23,915 94,847
AFSCME - Transit 53 1,917,002 36,170 950,093 17,926 54,096
Fire Dispatch /PERS 33 1,671,309 50,646 621,315 18,828 69,473
Confidential 29 1,762,645 60,781 569,063 19,623 80,404
Total City 740 $44,324,271 $59,898 $14,934,504 $20,182 $80,079
Note: Excludes Teamsters and Battalion Chief groups, and overtime.
•
INTEROFFICE MEMO
August 17, 2010
TO: Honorable Mayor and Council
FROM: Joe Caruso, Acting Codes Manager
SUBJECT: Council meeting complaint- Tom Allen
At the August 3, 2010 city council meeting, resident Tom Allen questioned the
following potential complaints:
• The intersection of S. 27 Avenue and Tieton Drive with clear -view issues
A code compliance officer responded to this location and found two
residences that had clear -view violations. The first violation was located at
602 S. 27 Avenue and the second residence was located at 2611 Tieton
Drive. The code officer spoke with both property owners and they agreed
to remove the vegetation in two days.
• The second questioned complaint was referred to as the "Doty Project" at
N. 45 Avenue and Summitview. The complaint was about the boarded up
structure located at 4408 Alpine Way.
Mr. Allen stated that there was a violation due to a timeline on the boarded
up structure to address it. Ordinance 2000 -21 regulates unoccupied
dwellings with standards. Section E assigns the Director or his designee to
routinely monitor compliance of the dwelling. There is no timeline where a
structure owner must address the building. As long as the structure is
legally secured from any unauthorized illegal entry, the structure fits the
criteria of the ordinance. Codes has consistently monitored this parcel and
has had abatement actions completed by the property owner and the City.
•