Council ups fees to blunt job cuts

The Spokane City Council voted Monday to raise fees on cable television as part of a wider effort to save police and fire jobs and restore a handful of proposed cuts for 2005.

The council ultimately found $1.3 million for spending or reserves through a combination of higher cable revenue and other budget adjustments.

As a result, the city will lose 66 police and fire officers next year, down from the 75 jobs the mayor’s proposed budget would have cut in the two public safety departments. About $700,000 was added to police and fire budgets to pay for five police officers and four firefighters who otherwise would be laid off.

In a related matter, the council OK’d the sale of $24 million in street repair bonds as the initial funding of a $117 million measure approved by voters in November. The bonds were sold Monday and yielded $25 million for street work because of a premium paid by investors. The money will pay for the first three years of a 10-year repair program. Three additional bond sales are expected in future years. Repayment will run through 2025 on Monday’s sale.

Borrowing costs to the city were helped by last week’s decision by Standard & Poor’s to raise the city’s bond rating from BBB to AA-, an increase of five rating levels. That saved at least $200,000 in borrowing costs on Monday’s sale, and will allow for savings on future borrowing as well.

“This is as good as it gets for a bean counter,” said Chief Financial Officer Gavin Cooley.

The cost to property owners may be slightly below an earlier estimate of 68 cents per $1,000 of assessed valuation. That means the street bond will cost the owner of a $100,000 home about $67 or $68 a year, officials said.

In budget action, council members voted 6-1 in favor of collecting $1 million or more in new revenue from Comcast cable. Only Councilman Bob Apple opposed the increase.

The increase would be passed on to customers, Comcast General Manager Kenneth Watts said in an interview.

It is estimated the increase will cost $2.50 a month on a bill for expanded basic cable service.

Currently, the city levies a 6 percent utility tax on the cable company, but applies much of that tax to a separate 5 percent franchise fee paid by Comcast. The council action would rescind the use of the tax to offset the franchise fee, raising the net collection from 6 percent to 11 percent on cable service.

The council still needs to approve a separate ordinance to authorize the increased collection. Mayor Jim West said he hasn’t decided whether to veto the cable increase.

Under Monday’s budget vote, the council approved $440 million in spending across a range of services, including utilities. The budget passed 5-2 with council members Cherie Rodgers and Bob Apple voting no.

Most of the attention Monday centered on the $119 million general fund where nearly 160 positions are being cut from the budget approved a year ago.

“These are drastic cuts in personnel, probably unprecedented here,” said Council President Dennis Hession.

Rodgers said it is “the worst budget I’ve ever seen” in her seven years on the council.

Councilman Brad Stark called it “a sad day for the city.”

An early retirement program previously approved by the council was accepted by about 40 employees in general fund services. The job cuts will result in about 105 employees leaving jobs through layoffs and early retirements, officials said.

“If you could put some money in reserves that would be helpful,” West said.

Council members voted to put about $100,000 into reserves.

The council earlier approved a modest increase in the city’s regular property tax collection, which will cost the owner of a $100,000 home about $12 a year, and an increase in overtime parking tickets from $10 to $15.

On Monday, the council added $111,000 to funding for community centers, $70,000 to preserve a position in the prosecutor’s office, $40,000 for a library outreach program for young people and $47,000 for a mental health service for elders.

The council voted against proposals to raise the city utility tax from 17 percent to 18 percent. It also was against cuts in spending for fire department management, a proposal to freeze salaries for 17 top non-union employees and an additional $5 increase in parking fines. Funding was reduced by $50,000 for downtown security patrols and sidewalk cleaning work. The Project Access health care program was not cut, despite an effort to eliminate its $150,000 in funding.