Politics & Government

Proposed City Budget: Jump in Police and Fire Pay, Vacancies to Remain

The next city budget, on the El Cerrito City Council agenda for discussion tonight, June 6, appears to leave current police and fire vacancies unfilled, despite a city pledge to use the sales tax hike to restore police and fire to "full strength."

Under the new city budget being proposed to the El Cerrito City Council tonight, police and fire pay would increase 7-9 percent and vacancies in those two departments would apparently continue, despite a city pledge to bring them up to "full strength" if the Measure R sales tax hike were passed.

Measure R, which raised El Cerrito's sales tax to 10.25 percent, was passed by voters in the November 2010 election and became effective April 1.

Vacancies in other departments would remain unfilled too, while "all programs and service levels are maintained," according the proposed budget from city staff for fiscal year 2011-12 beginning July 1.

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Revenue for the general fund will increase, in large part because of Measure R. Two departments would see cuts in general fund spending: Public Works and Administrative Services.

The budget is being presented to the Council at its regular meeting tonight, June 6, for discussion. The Council is expected to consider it for adoption on June 20.

Find out what's happening in El Cerritowith free, real-time updates from Patch.

The boosts in police and fire pay are described in the budget as “7-9% ‘contractual median’ adjustments for police and fire line employees.” The city negotiates with unions representing police officers and firefighters on employment contracts, which include provisions on pay.

City employees not represented by unions would receive a pay boost of 2 percent.

A rise in the cost of employee benefits is also a key issue in the budget.

“Employee benefit costs continue to increase at rates well above inflation,” the budget says.

The city’s share of pension payments for public safety employees, for example, will rise to 29.93 percent for 2011-12 from 25.15 percent in the current year. Employee health insurance rates increased 9.35 percent, according to the budget document.

On vacancies in city staff, the budget appears to keep vacancies in all departments, including police and fire. The number of police employees is budgeted to be 56.55, the same as the previous two years. The number of fire employees is budgeted to be 37, the same as the previous three years.

The police budget calls for hiring five new officers, but those are to replace five who will be leaving, meaning that existing vacancies will continue. “Both police and fire departments are projected to have vacancies (2-5) at the end of FY 11-12 due to retirements and concerns about the future of the SRO program,” the budget says.

During the discussion and debate last year over Measure R, the city cited existing police and fire vacancies as problems to address and said Measure R would be used to bring the departments to full strength.

“These revenues (from the sales tax increase) will be used to bring our Police and Fire Departments to full strength,” City Manager Scott Hanin said in his report to the Council on July 19, the night the Council voted unanimously to put Measure R on the ballot.

In a “Budget in Brief” brochure distributed to residents last summer, the city said, “The additional revenues will be used to return our Police and Fire Departments to full strength.”

Another four-page brochure mailed by the city to residents during the Measure R election campaign included a message from Police Chief Sylvia Moir saying in part, “Approximately 10% of City staff positions have been left vacant or eliminated, including police officers, firefighters, and parks and recreation personnel.”

The police represent the largest department in the city and will comprise the largest chunk — $10.5 million — of the proposed $28.9 milion in general fund expenditures for 2011-12. The proposed police cost represents a 11.6 percent increase over the current year. The police section of the budget says, “Increased expenses due mostly from increased personnel costs associated with completion of ‘median’ adjustment (7%) and higher than anticipated benefit increases.”

General fund revenues are expected to rise to $29.2 million for 2011-12, up from $26.5 million this year, according to the budget, with the biggest increase coming from the half-cent sales tax boost provided by Measure R. In 2009-10, before Measure R passed, the city received $3.8 million is general fund sales tax, while 2011-12 is predicted to bring in $5.3 million, according to the budget.

With a local sales tax rate of 10.25 percent, El Cerrito and Union City have the highest sales tax among all California cities outside of Los Angeles County.

The budget also lists numerous goals for each department. The City Manager’s office wants to launch a new city Web page and a Facebook page.

The City Clerk’s office seeks to establish a U.S. Passport office at City Hall to replace the one being phased out at the main El Cerrito post office. Also named as a goal is a City Clerk Web site.


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