St. Paul police, fire departments digging deep to find budget cuts

To balance their budgets without cutting police and firefighters, those St. Paul departments already have laid off plumbers, office assistants and other civilian support staff.

They're looking to outside grants to hire crime analysts or technology specialists, and their vehicle fleets are being replaced or expanded slowly, though that likely will increase repair costs.

"The pendulum has swung as far as it can safely swing in reductions in support services," Fire Chief Tim Butler wrote in a June 10 budget memo to the mayor's office.

But there's no cash windfall on the horizon. St. Paul Mayor Chris Coleman has alerted the city's 17 departments that they'll be expected to cut their combined spending by at least $2 million next year. The goal is to whittle away a foreseeable $9.6 million gap in the 2015 budget.

Budget memos to Coleman's office from directors of several of the city's largest departments reveal how big a task that might be. The police and fire departments are both hoping to increase rather than reduce spending on what they deem core city services -- which they say are already suffering from lean staffing.

The Department of Public Works is trying to figure out how to keep up with snow emergencies, demands for road salt and pothole repair while switching to a wheeled-cart-based home recycling program by spring 2015.

The Parks and Recreation Department, which recently privatized management of the Como and Phalen golf courses to save money, is trying to figure out how to continue its hanging basket program and whether to charge for parking in regional parks. Stump removal is competing with tree pruning. New facilities such as Pedro Park and Victoria Park will further bite into the budget.

But it's the two public safety departments that have sounded the loudest alarm. Mayoral spokeswoman Tonya Tennessen emphasized that all of the city's department heads have been asked to ponder hypothetical cuts and budget increases for discussion purposes.

"It's important not to draw conclusions about what will be in the mayor's budget, as these documents do not reflect that," she said.

Many steps remain before the 2015 budget is finalized. Coleman will deliver his annual budget address on Aug. 13, when he'll reveal his strategy for filling in fiscal holes. His proposal will launch four months of discussions with the St. Paul City Council, who will meet with department heads from mid-August through late September.

See more here:
St. Paul police, fire departments digging deep to find budget cuts