On St. Paul's chopping block: Rec centers, libraries, police

Libraries and recreation centers are likely to close, bond sales have been put on hold and there will be fewer police officers and firefighters on St. Paul streets.

That was the message Mayor Chris Coleman's staff told City Council members Wednesday morning.

The grim picture, they said, was in response to anticipated reductions in state aid.

Gov. Tim Pawlenty shared his proposed cuts to local government aid Tuesday when he released his budget plan for the next two years. The state has a $4.8 billion shortfall to make up. That number, however, is expected to grow when an updated economic forecast is presented in February.

St. Paul officials are bracing for deeper local aid cuts but for now are working with a $7.7 million reduction in 2009, plus a $5.7 million hole that was "unallotted" from the 2008 budget. A $17 million cut is expected for 2010. When inflation and loss of an expiring revenue source are factored in, St. Paul is looking at a hole nearly $44 million deep over three years.

Cutting entire departments for the libraries, parks and city attorney would still fall short of meeting that number.

Filling the 2009 gap is the task at hand. Coleman said he wants to be strategic in where the reductions come from. He wants to minimize job losses, although layoffs are likely.

Administration officials will be meeting with department directors and some unions today to discuss the situation. Eliot Seide, executive director of AFSCME Council 5, said his union has been working with Coleman for some time on ways to alleviate the economic hardship. Seide called Pawlenty's cuts draconian and said new revenue needs to be raised.

There will be public meetings in February during which residents can air their thoughts and ideas. Details for those gatherings haven't been set.

Whatever the combination of cuts turns out to be, "they will all be unacceptable," Mulholland said.

Council members asked for more information from the administration and want scenarios on the effects of across-the-board cuts compared with reductions on a department-by-department basis.

Council President Kathy Lantry said she wanted to see the differences between cutting hours at all rec centers versus shuttering a few.

Meantime, the city set aside about $4.3 million in contingency spending in 2009, as well as $4.5 million by keeping vacant jobs open. There's a hiring freeze, and spending over $1,000 needs approval from the administration.

A voluntary retirement program was announced a couple of weeks ago, as well as the option for employees to take unpaid leaves of absence or work fewer hours. The city has about 3,300 employees.

So far the city has received five applications for voluntary retirement, said Human Resources Director Angie Nalezny. The city offered the packages to 180 eligible employees and is hoping to have 30 takers by the Feb. 6 deadline. It's unclear what the total savings would be.

The next several weeks will entail discussions among many stakeholders.

"We need to look under every single rock," Thune said.