2010/10/27 Council Minutes - Laserfiche WebLink

October27,2010 reset the baseline for City operating expenditures to include 2010 budget reductions,such as: •Holding the line on wages with no cost-of-living increases for City employees for the second year in a row •Managing staff vacancies closely-determining whether each position that comes open is still critical to our overall mission and if so,whether the work could be accomplished differently •Eliminating underutilized positions through attrition or moving staff to areas where the demand is greater •Modifying how we deploy labor to reduce overtime costs •Realigning bus routes to adjust to changing demand •Funding maintenance of City property to avoid more costly repairs in the future •Avoiding risky capital investments that require bonding unstable revenue sources The operating budget I present to you today is lean and concentrates on essential public services with no proposed layoffs. In 2011,public safety will continue to remain our No.1 priority.We am investing more than$800,000 to supped new technology that includes a computer-aided dispatch system,a law enforcement records management system,and automated field reporting.This technology will reduce the amount of time our public safety professionals spend on repetitive • paperwork,which in turn will increase the amount of time in the field.We • • are also beginning the design process for amuch-needed new municipal • court,which is expected to open in 2012. While I present this balanced budget to you today,there am still uncertainties on the horizon that may negatively impact our circumstances,including the pace of our local economic recovery and measures on the November ballot that would further reduce Everett's 297