ST. PETE BEACH - For the fourth consecutive year, the city will dip into its reserves to balance the budget.
St. Pete Beach likely will use about $100,000 of its reserves to pay for the day-to-day costs of running the city, according to budget estimates presented Monday to the City Commission. Considering that the city expects to use $400,000 of reserves money to balance the budget for the current fiscal year, City Manager Mike Bonfield considers the proposed budget for next year good news.
"We've made really strong strides in "plateauing' it out," Bonfield said.
In the proposed $11-million budget, the city sets aside money for implementing the new master plan and continues to move toward hiring the county to perform more city services, such as building inspections and handling evidence for the city Police Department's criminal cases. The budget also eliminates four full-time and two part-time jobs, but no one will lose their jobs because people will be absorbed into other positions.
The budget is based on no increase in the tax rate, although the city thought just months ago that it might have to raise taxes again. Even without a tax increase, skyrocketing property values mean property owners will pay more.
This year's budget is based on a millage rate of 2.9, plus a voter-approved millage of .1060 to pay for construction of the police station. A person who owns a $200,000 house and takes the standard $25,000 exemption would pay $526.05 in city taxes next year.
Few of the job cuts will save the city money, Bonfield said. For example, the city will not fill the job vacated by former Assistant City Manager Chris Brimo, who resigned under pressure last year, but the city will spend $100,000 on an outside contractor who will help implement the city's master plan. St. Pete Beach also is eliminating its building inspector but will pay the county to perform inspections.
The most controversial cuts, however, are proposed in the police department. There, a series of changes has come under fire from police officers disappointed by the bottom line, a reduction in the number of sworn officers.
The Police Department has 45 positions, 30 of them sworn officers. Under Bonfield's plan, there would be 29 sworn officers.
Bonfield points out, however, that he is tweaking the job requirements. The person who oversees administrative staff must be a police officer. Under his new plan, that job would be a supervisory role that could be filled be an administrative staff member.
In addition, Bonfield wants to eliminate one dispatcher position and one parking enforcement officer position. In both cases, the employees would be relocated to other positions within the Police Department and would not lose their jobs, Bonfield said.
St. Pete Beach also has outstanding debts to pay. A Times analysis of municipal budgets for the 2002-2003 fiscal year found that St. Pete Beach had more debt per capita than any of the 16 Pinellas communities reviewed.
St. Pete Beach is paying for such expenses as the police station, which will cost $171,540 this year, and a City Hall completed last year. The city will pay $302,000 toward City Hall this year.
