Fort Smith Directors agree on 2012 budget cuts

story by Aric Mitchell
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The Fort Smith Board of Directors reached an agreement Tuesday night on spending cuts from the general fund in order to keep the Fort Smith Convention Center operational. When the final proposed budget is presented to the board Dec. 6, it will include $777,000 for the Center.

Going into the third and final meeting for 2012 budget deliberations, the board had already agreed to $41,110 in small cuts across 11 departments. But the hard work was still to come as city directors had to find $735,890 in expendables.

Those cuts came but not before two additional hours of deliberation.

“I want to thank everyone for the hard work and the time they’ve put in to making this happen,” Fort Smith Mayor Sandy Sanders said, noting that “tough decisions” were made, but that necessary functions would continue while the Center found its footing.

On Nov. 8, a 1% prepared food tax that would have funded the facility was rejected by voters.

The remaining cuts from the general fund budget, along with their effects, are as follows:
• Police Department ($317,900)
The police department, funded entirely by the general fund, will eliminate the crime prevention officer, the officer dedicated to serving arrest warrants, and the bicycle patrol (a total of four officers). Part-time public safety dispatch positions will be eliminated. This will increase hold times for non-emergency calls. A police cadet position will also be eliminated, requiring sworn officers to perform mundane work such as shuttling vehicles for service and repairs. The result is slower response times for lower priority calls for service from the public.

• Merit Pay Increases ($78,290)
The board voted to approve a 2% cost of living adjustment for city employees but reduced the merit side, which is typically 1-3% by about 80% of the normal range. This reduction will affect many departments, including primarily the police, fire, and parks departments.

• Mayor’s 4th of July Celebration ($35,000)
The board decided to eliminate funding for the Mayor’s Annual Fourth of July Celebration. City Administrator Ray Gosack confirmed that if sponsors could not be found to support the $35,000 price tag, it would be removed from Fort Smith for the first time “in decades,” he said.

• Parks Department ($121,000)
This reduction will eliminate two of the four new mowers requested (at a cost savings of $70,000) and a pickup truck replacement ($30,000). It will also move responsibility for the Christmas lights and the opening night of Creekmore Park’s Holiday Express (Dec. 5) to the Mayor’s Office ($16,000 added back to the general fund). The Mayor’s department will also be responsible for Tales of the Crypt ($5,000).

• Transit Department ($35,000)
This deduction will affect city bus schedules. Gosack explained: “What we’re going to do here is shave off some time in the early morning hours and in the late evening. We’ve looked into it and seen a very low ridership during those times, and we think we’ll be able to eliminate four of our fixed routes as a result.”

• Communications Department ($28,800)
The Focus on Fort Smith newsletter was sent to the chopping block after some debate as to the “transparency and public relations” problem that City Director Don Hutchings referred to in the first budget meeting on Nov. 10.

“I agree with cutting, but we (city government) have a communications problem, and this (cutting Focus) will upset that. I understand that by the time many get this newsletter, it may seem like old news, but it’s so informative, and just packed full of valuable information,” Hutchings argued.

However, the board disagreed.

In addition to this, the board decided to do away with televised meetings for 2012 exercising the option of making it a temporary cut. Total savings to the general fund for this reduction will be $7,400.

• Lobbyists and Outside Agencies ($24,900)
In the surprise of the night, outside agencies, which were expected to be eliminated entirely from city funding, will see only a 10% reduction. The suggestion, started by City Director Andre Good and endorsed by Director Hutchings, picked up steam as the night went on.

“If we don’t invest in our community, what makes you think anyone else will?” Good said.

As a result, instead of giving the normal $180,000 to non-profit organizations in 2012, the city will contribute $162,000 to be spread across the funded agencies.

Getting people to notice Fort Smith in tough economic times was a recurring theme throughout the night as more than once the issue of paid lobbyists arose. The city considered removing the $105,000 expense altogether, but was able to negotiate a lower rate of $70,000 instead. Savings to the general fund will be $6,900.

While City Director Phillip Merry originally, by formal recommendation, wanted to remove the lobbyist payment altogether, which would have resulted in a cost savings of $24,000 to the general fund, he and Director Steve Tyler eventually accepted the reduced rate supported by Good and City Director Kevin Settle.

• Downtown Projects and Events ($75,000)
By delaying the city street-scape project, which held a $120,000 price tag, the board was able to put $60,000 back into the general fund, moving the start of the project to the end of 2012 and finishing it off in the first few months of 2013.

The additional $15,000 in spending cuts will affect, but not eliminate, downtown events, such as the Blues Festival, Festival on the Border, First Thursday, and the Farmers’ Market.

Finally, a $20,000 budget request from the buildings department for a new vehicle was also eliminated.

The board will meet Dec. 6 to vote on the final proposed budget for 2012.