Council Votes to Renegotiate Contracts to Avoid Layoffs

The Benicia City Council instructed the city manager to begin the process of renegotiating the contracts with seven employee groups in order to help close a $1.7 million budget deficit, avoid layoffs, maintain services and achieve a balanced budget at its regular meeting Tuesday, May 3.

The 5-0 vote reflected the agreement among council members that expenditures needed to drop but didn't illustrate their disagreement over how big the looming budget deficit really is.

City Manager Brad Kilger opened the discussion by saying, "This list was not easy to create."

Employee salaries and benefits make up about 74 percent of the general fund expenditures. Kilger wanted direction from the council on how much of  the projected $1.7 million budget gap should be closed by cuts in employee compensation versus cuts to programs and services.

Councilman Mark Hughes suggested the cuts be divided, 75 percent from employee salaries and benefits and 25 percent from programs and services. 

Hughes also questioned why the layoff list was so heavily weighted toward cuts in public safety. Eight of the 10 positions considered for layoffs were in the fire or police departments.

Kilger explained that the layoff list was created in a way that ensured at least one member of each bargaining unit was included in the layoffs. The only way the city could reopen the contracts was if the negotiations centered on the need to cut costs in order to stop layoffs.

In his report to the council, Kilger highlighted $854,940 the city gives in the form of special grants and program contributions, suggesting that an across-the-board cut of 25 percent would save the city $213,000.

In September the city cut the grant for this year by 50 percent and instituted cuts to the field-maintenance program in which city workers maintained playing fields at the middle and high schools.  

The money for the crossing guards has nearly been restored by local businessman , who began a metal drive to raise funds. However, that is only for this year. 

If the city makes 25 percent across-the-board cuts to the special grants and program contributions, the school district would lose about $81,700.

School trustee Dana Dean started the evening at a special meeting of the school board, where she and other board members learned they may have to contend with a deficit of $3.4 million in the next school year — much higher than the $1.9 million they thought they were facing.

Dean, who said she wasn't representing the school board, was blunt in her remarks to the council.

"If all the city cuts affecting the schools are adopted, the school district won't be able to make up the difference."