Norfolk: Call for big budget cuts unlikely to stick

NORFOLK

City Manager Regina V.K. Williams asked most department heads this week to submit budget requests that are 20 percent smaller than their current budgets.

The police and fire departments were asked to submit budgets with 5 percent reductions.

City officials stress that cuts of that size aren't likely to be implemented.

"We are seeking planning numbers," Assistant City Manager Stanley A. Stein said. "We have a serious budget situation and need as much information as we can get.

"The targets are not geared to suggest a level of reduction, but to ensure we have sufficient information."

Williams is facing a $26 million deficit a month before she must submit her budget to the City Council. The new budget year begins July 1.

Williams was out of town and unavailable for comment Wednesday. Stein said the request was made "to get department heads to think outside of the box."

Earlier this year, Williams requested proposals with cuts of 5 percent from most departments, and 3 percent from public safety. Some agencies did not meet their goals, Stein said.

"We found people weren't talking about dramatically changing their services," he said. "Some decided to eliminate travel or let vacancies sit another year."

Stein said the city forecasts that budget revenues will continue to decline at least two more years. Williams' request was intended to get the message across that real cuts must be made.

Budget director Ron Williams Jr. told the City Council on Tuesday that the school system will receive $34.3 million less in state aid next fiscal year. Stein said that if the city manager decides to increase funding for the schools, the $26 million deficit will grow.

"We have to be prepared to deal with that," he said.

He said the Chesapeake City Council was told recently that the city could save hundreds of thousands of dollars by purchasing smaller ambulances - the smaller units would save $170,000 per vehicle.

"I don't know if that would work for us, but that's illustrative of a city thinking outside the box," Stein said.

Stein said the city's work force will shrink and Williams hopes to accomplish that through attrition. But he acknowledged that few are leaving city employment. "In this economy, why would you leave?" he said.

Unpaid furlough days haven't been discussed, but that could be an option. So might passing on health insurance cost increases, which the city has absorbed in recent years, to employees.

The city also may offer those near retirement health insurance for a year or two until they are eligible for Medicare as an inducement to retire, Stein said.

"We haven't figured out exactly if we do a reduction of force, how we would do it," he said. "But every option is on the table."

Harry Minium, (757) 446-2371, harry.minium@pilotonline.com