Community to feel budget pinch

City hopes volunteers will fill gaps as it plans to trim batting cage, skate park hours, lanscape maintenance

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Kids looking to skateboard Mondays and Wednesdays at the Clovis Rotary Skatepark will be out of luck.

Picnickers planning on enjoying the pristine lawn of a local park may find unkempt grass and dry spots.

Baseball players wanting to fine-tune their hitting will have to fork over an additional 50 cents at the Clovis Batting Range.

Drivers along Shaw Avenue will see bushy, weed-filled medians.

Senior citizens taking ceramics classes at the Clovis Senior Center will need to buy their own clay.

Young and old alike may soon feel the pinch of the Clovis economic crisis.

The Clovis City Council heard a preview May 5 of how a tightened city budget may impact the community and affect city services.

"This remains a work in progress," said city manager Kathy Millison as she updated the council on the city's efforts to cut $1 million out of the remaining budget that ends June 30 and to trim the next fiscal year's budget by $4.3 million.

A sharp decline in sales tax revenue, building fees and property taxes have reduced the amount of money heading into the city's general fund that pays for public safety and some parks, senior and recreational services.

Already this year, the city trimmed $1.9 million to help ends meet, but when recently released reports about sales tax returns for the holiday shopping season showed a 4 percent decline, another $1 million gap was added.

"The $1 million shortfall now is very difficult because there is so short a time left in this fiscal year," Millison said. Spreading the reduction over several months would have been easier than just over two months.

The city has stopped overtime except for emergencies, reduced the hours city departments are open to the public and stopped public education safety programs that are taught in local schools, such as FirePal, Too Good for Drugs and DARE.

The reductions will save about $300,000, and Millison said the council will be asked to use emergency reserve funds to make up the difference to achieve the needed $1 million.

Millison said the city is anticipating more of the same in the next fiscal year that begins July 1 and is planning a general fund budget that reduces expenses by $4.3 million. Of that, $2.9 million will come from reductions in public programs and services and $1.4 million in wage and benefit savings.

City administrators are currently meeting with employee bargaining groups about adjusting health benefit payments.

The proposed budget plan for 2008-09 will be presented to the City Council May 19.

Among the possible changes are:

Suspending FirePal, Too Good for Drugs and DARE education programs that are taught to students in Clovis by police and firefighters. The city is hoping to work with the school district to develop a way for the programs to be returned in some way, possibly with the use of volunteers.

Eliminating some of the Clovis Police Activities League sports programs.

Reducing sites for Play Clovis Way and the free-lunch program during the summer.

Closing the Clovis Batting Cage for three months during the winter and increasing the fee from $1 to $1.50 per round of balls.

Reducing the hours of operation at the Clovis Rotary Skatepark and closing the park Mondays and Wednesdays completely. "The gates will be locked and the lights out," said Millison who warned that could result in an increased need for police patroling.

Publishing the Clovis Senior Center newsletter quarterly instead of monthly, requiring ceramics class participants to pay for their materials and canceling some of the senior center cell phones.

Publishing Connecting with Clovis magazine, the city's newsletter, three times a year instead of quarterly.

Adjusting the timing of lights at public facilities to shorter intervals and developing a charge for use of ballpark lights.

Mowing grass once every two weeks instead of weekly during the summer and reducing the frequency of maintenance to landscaped sidewalks or medians in landscaped areas where upkeep is paid for by the general fund -- generally parks and public right of ways south of Herndon Avenue and west of Fowler Avenue. The city is shifting its staff to move some parks employees to areas paid for by money outside of the general fund. The changes result in a park employee being responsible for maintaining 19.5 acres instead of the current load of 10, practically doubling the workload.

Deferring equipment replacements where possible.

Keeping vacant positions unfilled in several departments. The city is also considering an incentive for encouraging those near retirement to retire early. Those positions would then remain vacant.

City leaders hope citizens will step forward to help out.

The city has started making a concerted effort to increase its use of volunteers who could ease some of the staffing shortfalls. Prior to the council meeting, 65 potential volunteers came to City Hall to learn about the needs in the Clovis Police Department, which includes everything from neighborhood patrols to data entry.

Similar opportunities will be created for volunteers to help with park maintenance, litter control and graffiti cleanup.

The community will certainly notice the changes, said Council Member Lynne Ashbeck regarding the cuts in hours at the different recreational venues or the drop in the level of landscaping maintenance throughout the city. They need to realize the situation the city is in and that they can help, Ashbeck said.

Millison said there are plans to put a full listing of the volunteer opportunities on the city's Web site once they are identified for the community to consider.

The council will hear an update May 12 on any further proposed budget changes and will receive the final recommended budget May 19.

E-mail Patti J. Lippert at plippert@clovisindependent.com.