Huntington Task Force Presents Cost Cutting Ideas To Mayor

June 18, 2010 Updated Mar 3, 2010 at 6:15 PM EST HUNTINGTON, Ind. (Indiana’s NewsCenter) - A Huntington task force of concerned citizens is presenting new ideas to reduce a massive budget shortfall to city leaders. Mayor Steve Updike says the city is already $730,000 in the red this year. To try and create financial stability, Updike cut weekly trash pick up to twice a month. He also cut 21 employees in three months. “Things are bad and they're not going to get better soon unless we make some drastic changes,” Huntington City Council Member Steve McIntyre said. “And looking at 2010 and how the budget is 2011 is probably going to be worse.” To help find solutions to the budget issues McIntyre created the Volunteer Citizen’s Task Force in December. The twelve-person group made up of attorneys, real estate agents, homemakers and others met eight times in three months. They presented their 22 cost cutting suggestions to city leaders Wednesday. Suggestions include combining the Parks and Street Departments, eliminating the Park Board's pay, and consolidating city and county dispatch centers. The task force also suggested layoffs. They say the police department is overstaffed by ten patrolmen and would like to see the positions trimmed. They'd also like to eliminate take home cars, raise employee’s insurance premiums and reduce the workweek to four days. McIntyre says he created the task force in part because no one has dealt with a multi-million dollar shortfall like this. “I'm in my third term. There are some people in their fourth term and others in their first,” McIntyre said. “But this is something that no one, none of us have ever been through before. Nobody sitting on the city council has ever been in the position where we have had such a shortfall in the budget so it is new to everybody. And in a way it's a learning experience for everybody too.” The task force asked the mayor to review the suggestions and give them reasons why he would not want to use a suggestion. According to published reports, Mayor Updike would like to see a ten-dollar “service fee” for residents. This fee was once called a “trash fee.” Updike says the difference is a service fee could help boost the general fund and possibly fund weekly trash pick up. While the “trash fee” could only be used for garbage pickup. City council has taken steps to find ways to reduce the deficit. They’re spending $60,000 to hire an outside company who will find ways to trim the budget and become more efficient. Some residents aren't happy with this decision. If you have questions about trash pick up in the city of Huntington call 260-356-4720. You can find the Volunteer Citizen’s Task Force report below. We’ll continue to follow this story on the networks of Indiana’s NewsCenter. March 3, 2010 Late in 2009 the City Council turned down a request to impose a “trash fee” on the citizens of Huntington. A public meeting was held and I placed a poll on my website about the matter. At the time, most indications were that the people opposed to a fee would like for the City to make as many cuts in the spending as possible before asking for any type of fee. A lot of the citizens felt that their taxes pay for trash pick-up as opposed to a person living outside the City who pays a lesser amount of taxes but pay to have their trash hauled. In consideration of this information, I asked the citizens of the City of Huntington to volunteer to form a “task force” to look at the City’s current financial situation and to compile a list of cost-cutting recommendations to the Mayor and the City Council. The group of volunteers met 8 times and consisted of a variety of local residents which included attorneys, a real estate agent, a CPA, local business owners, and home makers. The meetings were also attended and/or observed by 2 other Council members and one of the City’s department heads on separate occasions. The Task Force is submitting a list of 20 cost saving ideas to the City for consideration. I would like to express my thanks to those who stepped up and became involved by offering their thoughts on the matter. I do not feel that it is my place to screen or debunk any of the suggestions so they are ALL included whether or not I agree with them. I would also like to encourage ANY Huntington resident who may have ideas or comments to send those to me so I can share them with the Council and Administration. I can be contacted by email or directly on my website. ( www.stevemcintyre.org or steve.mcintyre@huntington.in.us ) Steve McIntyre 3rd District Representative, Huntington Common Council The “Volunteer Citizen Task Force” recommends that the City consider the following cost-cutting measures. It is requested that the Task Force be notified of which suggestions are used by the City and that if any of the suggestions cannot be utilized, it is requested that notification be made as to the reasons for the inability to use them. Notification can be made via Council Member Steve McIntyre, who served as the coordinator of the Task Force. Combine Parks and Street Depts. This will eliminate duplicative costs (building and office equipment costs) combine positions; eliminate positions, cross train staff that remains. Ultimately creates efficiencies without cutting services. Volunteer park board - eliminate pay Layoffs in police dept: Data suggests that dept is overstaffed by approximately 10 patrolmen. Eliminate K-9 position (saves 1 salary, vehicle costs etc) - bottom line it's a luxury we can't afford. Consolidate police and sheriff dispatch centers (we are told this has been discussed for 30 years with no progress - we are in an immediate crisis and the ego and turf wars need to stop. Sell all un-used city owned cars (primarily police cars). Eliminate the take home car program (this will lower fuel and insurance costs) Put formal hiring freeze in effect (may have already been done). Reduce work week to 4 days for hourly employees. Revisit and stop the dollars proposed for the Umbaugh "study". Privatize trash collection (remove it from the city altogether) eliminates labor/ liability insurance/fuel/vehicle maintenance/ health insurance costs. Change employee longevity process (4 suggestions): Eliminate longevity pay and replace it with bonuses based on merit and availability of money. Change longevity to be the same in ALL city departments based on the $160 per year worked as opposed to the percentage based figure. Cap all longevity at $6,000 (those making more would be reduced) Freeze longevity amounts for those above $6,000 and cap those below at $6,000. This would be a “long-term” cost saving that would not force employees to be reduced from their current status. Sell the property where EMS are station on South Jefferson Street to PHH and stop paying their utilities. Eliminate the policy which allows public safety employees to have unlimited sick days. Start them with a “bank” of sick days of 48 hours and have them accrue sick time at rate of 4 hours earned per each month worked. Reduce the amount of “Holidays” from 13 to 6 (eliminating 7 days where employees are either getting paid to be off or they are being paid double-time to work. Combine the positions of “Human Resources Director” and “Operations Manager” and eliminate one or the other. Reduce the amount of Deputy Clerks from the Clerk’s Office Raise rates employees are paying for insurance to be comparable to other employers in the area. Establish a hybrid “volunteer-paid” group of firefighters by establishing a volunteer group who would serve along with our firefighter and would expand as the paid personnel retire. Make the move to garbage packers that utilize one man rather then three-men crews. Enlist community service clubs to form sponsorships for park improvements, programs and maintenance. Co-op with the County to save on purchases.
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