Budgets: what is getting cut/added in your professional budget?

[rcgplanner]

Just to clarify a little: Single-family is capped at 1% of assessed value, but rental is 2% and commercial/industrial is 3%. Basically, if you area bedroom 'burb, you're screwed. Down here, we're looking at a $1.2 mil reduction even with a fairly diverse land use landscape. As tight as our budget is, that's going to mean serious reductions in force including public safety.

That's what the issue is here, we went from a population of 6,200 in 2000 to nearly 12,000 in 2008. It is mostly a bedroom community with a strip of big-box retail. Our municipal budget is approx. $3.5 mil and we are having to cut nearly $300,000 next year. It is going to be tough all over, we are trying our best to not have to cut positions by using pay freezes and having staff pay for the insurance increases. We lost our PD a few months ago and have yet to replace the position, we are using a consultant for some of the more complex cases but most of the duties are falling back on me.

[JMo]

I would like to wish everyone a Happy New Federal Fiscal Year!

(okay, so I'm a day late..)

[fringe]

As a part-timer in county Building Inspection and plans review my little piece of turf has been marked for divoting. Only trouble is they will have no plans examiner if they shake me loose. I have two municipal contracts for inspection services on the side, however, and have offered to do plan review on contract for county.

[Gedunker]

Just got word last week to trim 9% from the present budget. It looks like it could get ugly ... sooner rather than later.

[Plan-it]

In a hiring freeze that has lasted for six months and will continue throughout this next Fiscal Year. I anticipate that we will have a freeze on all travel and training expenditures next. I am hopeful that we will not have to resort to job cuts ( I realy like my staff).

[jmello]

Our CM announced a hiring freeze and cuts to training and travel late last week.

[Richmond Jake]

We've been in a hiring freeze for about the past two years. Since then, the workforce of nearly 600 has been reduced by 48 due to attrition. Nobody has been laid off. And this year's budget, which began on October 1st, contains no capital expenditures--all maintenance.

[PlannerGirl]

http://www.fauquier.com/news/2008/no...prove-layoffs/

Faced with a projected $8 million revenue shortfall, Fauquier's board of supervisors this week will approve laying off 13 county workers to cut costs.

"The community development department will take the biggest hit, losing five workers, including a plans reviewer, assistant soil scientist, a zoning inspector and two clerical people. Hours for the assistant planning chief and a planner, both full timers, will be cut"...

[beach_bum]

Just announced here today because of revenue shortfalls, no layoffs, but every dept has to cut 2% from their budgets and all travel-training is cut unless you need it to maintain a certification. I have to wait until next budget year to request the funds to take AICP!

[TOFB]

Pretty much everything. I'll be missing the APA Conference for the first time in 15 years.

. . . but I have a job.

[luckless pedestrian]

wait, TOFB, what? no APA conference? who will I stalk then?

[TOFB]

wait, TOFB, what? no APA conference? who will I stalk then?

Cyberstalking seems to work for both of us!

[Plan-it]

Just anounced this week, an across the board 5% operating budget cut for all Departments and Agencies...here we go. I think this is the 1st of many to come.

On another note, the City of Atlanta is undergoing a salary reduction and hours worked per week reduction for ALL employees. Yikes!

[Coragus]

Our fiscal year begins July 1. Despite that, we were told, after completing a round of interviews and selecting finalists, not to fill an opening because funding for the new year wasn't guarenteed. Other things being discussed now are employee contributions to health care and possible cut in hours in lieu of pay increase, but we haven't entered into a formal budget planning process yet, and probably won't until after January.

[AnvilPartners]

About a month ago I read that the City Managers out there reported back to the ICMA on what they were doing to cut budgets and it was pretty creative, albeit depressing -- 4 day work weeks, increased telecommuting, etc -- it was in the news section of thier website. 39% reported they were reducing service hours...70% indicated they were increasing or adding user fees.

[jmello]

We have developed 5, 10 and 15% reduction scenarios. Ten and 15% involve a small force reduction via attrition and massive cuts to capital projects. From the sound of our CM's presentation yesterday, it sounds like 15+% cuts are going to be necessary. Scary times my friends. Let's all take it seriously, please.

[Richmond Jake]

I received word today that I must immediately cut 10% from my budget for the remaining 10 months of the fiscal year. It's coming in the form of a warm body--fortunately, not mine. It's tough out there folks.

[MacheteJames]

Okay, so who is back in budget hell for another year? Our overall municipal budget for 2010 has a $1.5 million hole in it and planning's budget has been frozen to below 2008 levels yet again by TPTB. The elected officials are likely to take further chunks out of our budget before all is said and done. There is no fat left to trim and the union (of which I am a member) and the municipality are operating without a contract at the moment as negotiations have broken down. The municipality wants the union to make some major concessions and the union says "no way". It's bleak all around and furloughs are a likely scenario at this point.

Who else is in this boat with me?

[PlannerGirl]

Yes ours is in worse shape than last year, I see no way to escape without some heads rolling.

Sigh

[Gedunker]

Sailing under dark clouds on an angry sea, and I fear the worst is still to come, with state-mandated municipal budget starvation kicking in in 2011.

[Whose Yur Planner]

Sailing under dark clouds on an angry sea, and I fear the worst is still to come, with state-mandated municipal budget starvation kicking in in 2011.

I saw all that coming in 2007 and my jurisdiction at the time, was already on the ropes. We had the knives applied to the budget in 2005, with layoffs and the such. Glad I got out before it the full impact hit, tho I feel both both you and JNA. Hang in there.

[Cardinal]

The ICMA has released a couple reports lately that document how a majority of cities and counties are expecting to have budget shortfalls for the next couple of years. One report I recently read suggested that municipal budgets may not recover for a decade. Raising taxes on people with declining incomes and assets is not a solution. Personally, I believe we are in for a significant discussion of the true role of government. To be more relevant, the planning profession has to move from being regulators of growth to offering strategies that stabilize government revenue and reduce government costs.

[btrage]

The ICMA has released a couple reports lately that document how a majority of cities and counties are expecting to have budget shortfalls for the next couple of years. One report I recently read suggested that municipal budgets may not recover for a decade. Raising taxes on people with declining incomes and assets is not a solution. Personally, I believe we are in for a significant discussion of the true role of government. To be more relevant, the planning profession has to move from being regulators of growth to offering strategies that stabilize government revenue and reduce government costs.

I agree.

Personally, I've started shifting my mindset from "regulator/long-range planner" to "economic developer - with a bit of long-range planning thrown in".

I've also been focusing on plans that have tangible/physical benefits that people can actually see, such as park and rec plans, or nonmotorized transportation plans. And then tying these into an overall economic development strategy.

[Planit]

Word already being spoke is losing 2 more building inspectors - hoping the Planning division is left alone.

Our building level is back to 1981 level - in the last decade they've let this place building like gang busters and now its busted. Last MLS listing shows 1000 homes (for a county of 70,000) for sale - that's more than a 2 to 3 year absorbtion. Plus there are more than 500 vacant lots platted and ready to go. We were a self-supporting department, even a donor for a couple years, not so now.

[dvdneal]

They already decimated our planning and development divisions, so not much left to cut. I'm expecting some more cuts to be coming as soon as they figure out the new budget. Rumor is that we're looking at public works now. My city went straight for the body count and hasn't let up. These new ideas like furlows or shorter work weeks just don't seem to work here.