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Council panel members move to cut expenses
By LEONORA LaPETER
© St. Petersburg Times, ST. PETERSBURG -- City Council members on two subcommittees voted to do their part to reduce the city's expenses Thursday, agreeing to cut $11,620 in travel expenses and offering another $7,000 in possible reductions from their budget for the future. Mayor Rick Baker has ordered all city departments, with the exception of police, fire and the City Council, to cut 2 percent of their budgets by the end of October to help the city deal with a possible budget shortfall from the state of at least $2.6-million. The Police and Fire departments must cut one-twentieth of a percent, or a combined $162,000 from their budgets. The mayor has no say over the council's $581,000 budget. Two City Council subcommittees voted to have the full council consider reducing their $5,000 travel budgets to $3,547. Six of the eight council members serve on the subcommittees, so the move is essentially a done deal. The money is used for trips to conferences, such as the Florida League of Cities', or for goodwill missions. For example, this year, council members Earnest Williams and Bill Foster traveled to Japan to celebrate the 40th anniversary of St. Petersburg's "sister city" relationship with Takamatsu. Other possible cuts would come from the council's food and ice budget ($1,500), postage and delivery ($1,170) and a copy machine ($1,000), among others. State lawmakers are trying to cut $1.3-billion from the state budget in the wake of the hit tourism took after the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks. Budget analysts predict this recession will cut substantially into sales tax revenues and tourist development taxes -- meaning the state will not have as much money to give local governments. "We don't like to use the big "R' word, but that's what it is," said Barry Lupiani, the city's budget director. Cuts of 2 percent across the board in the city budget would generate about $1.3-million. Baker has also asked those departments to make suggestions on how they would cut another 3 percent from their budgets. Those suggestions are due Nov. 16, and Baker's staff is expected to come up with a plan for additional cuts by Jan. 1. The city is unsure of exactly how much it might have to make up in its $175-million operating budget. Lupiani has predicted it could be anywhere from $2.6-million to $4-million. Just a 2 percent cut would slash $113,000 from the Public Works Department, $79,000 from neighborhood services and $587,000 from leisure services. It is up to Baker to figure out where the money will come from. But City Council member Bill Foster suggested the city could reduce the impact on leisure services by tapping the $700,000 interest the city will receive on money it got from the sale of the Weeki Wachee Spring property to water regulators earlier this year. Bryan said it was important to keep that money in place, but it might be all right to use it if the city is forced to cut recreation programs for kids. Two subcommittees vote to have the full City Council consider cutting their travel budgets.
 © 2006 • All Rights Reserved • St. Petersburg Times
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