City Manager Cameron Benson recently submitted a Fiscal Year 2012 Budget Outlook to Mayor Peter Bober and City Commissioners, in which he stated that “business-as-usual is not conducive to reversing structural budget issues faced by the City’s General Fund” and estimated the initial budget gap for the FY2012 General Fund at $25 million.
In the letter, City Manager Benson said the local economy mirrors the national trend of depressed tax collections and high unemployment rates and said residual effects of the recession compounded by the 2007 adoption of the Florida Property Tax Reform Bills (Amendment 1) has led to massive budget gaps, a growth in expenses that outpaces revenues.
“Fiscal stress has become the single motivating factor to veer from the perception of government as a dichotomy between the public and the private,” he wrote in the letter. “As we progress into FY2012 budget preparations, some difficult decisions, whether it is regarding the City’s organizational structure, privatization, contracting services or some combination thereof, must be made and implemented.”
City Manager Benson highlighted several cost-saving initiatives, including a city-wide hiring freeze that will take effect May 1, 2011 with some exceptions to Public Safety and operational reorganizations of City departments, which are expected to save more than $75,000, for the FY2012 Budget.
In addition, he highlighted ways Hollywood has already taken efforts to reduce spending. For example, the merging of the Department of Building and Engineering Services with the Office of Planning in 2009 saved the City approximately $318,000 and contracting a private firm to run after-school and summer-camp programs previously operated by the Department of Parks, Recreation and Cultural Arts saved $300,000 in part-time salaries plus $108,798 in operating costs without reducing services or programs available to residents.
Along with other initiatives, the City saved an estimated $1.1 million in FY2009-2010.
For FY2011, the City eliminated 47 positions from the Budget totaling $1,768,772 and also negotiated with the City’s unions to help close the budget gap, which resulted in concessions/reductions totaling $5.2 million.
City Manager Benson said he would like residents to know that the City searches for ways to reduce costs without jeopardizing quality service and said he encourages residents to share their thoughts about the budget with the City.
For more information, call the City Manager’s office at 954-921-3201.
