Pink Slips

Dallas city manager expects to cut 500 jobs
Thursday, July 15, 2010
By RUDOLPH BUSH / The Dallas Morning News

About 500 city employees will get pink slips this year as Dallas works to balance its budget in a time of sinking tax revenue, City Manager Mary Suhm told a North Dallas service club Wednesday.

Suhm provided new details about her efforts to craft a budget to present to the City Council in August, saying that she has reduced the expected gap between revenue and expenses from a high of $130 million to about $18.8 million in a roughly $2 billion operating budget.

That reduction has come through plans for heavy cuts in city services but also from a series of savings measures like putting off the purchase of new police and firefighting equipment. In addition, recent indications that sales tax revenue may be on the upswing could help the city's bottom line.

Suhm said she now expects to be able to restore a number of high-priority services that were set to be cut.

For example, 34 of the city's 43 recreation centers will open for at least 40 hours a week under the current plan, instead of only 23 centers.

"Everybody in the organization is looking at the way they do business in an effort to maintain the services we provide," she said.

But when the City Council passes a balanced budget in September as required by law, there will be a definite impact that regular users of city services will see.

Libraries, cultural centers, and parks and recreation centers will all see funding slashed.

In a talk to the North Dallas Golden K Kiwanis Club and in an interview later, Suhm said she is working to minimize the effect of those cuts in a variety of ways.

Library cuts

Hours at branch libraries, for example, are not expected to be cut.

But of the 500 employees who will be laid off – almost 4 percent of the total city workforce – some 90 are library pages who spend much of their time shelving books. And even as workers are let go, funding for new books, magazines, and other materials will be cut yet again this year.

"Are the books going to be slower getting back on the shelves? Yes. Are the materials going to be fewer? Yes. But the libraries are going to be open," Suhm said.

Parks, too, will suffer from less attention by fewer employees. Litter won't be picked up as often and mowing will be decreased.

And though hours are expected to be restored at a number of recreation centers, it's unlikely those will operate at the same level if fewer people are available to staff them.

Members of the Kiwanis Club asked Suhm about plans for the Walnut Hill Recreation Center, where they meet. She said efforts are focused on keeping centers across Dallas open early in the mornings, when they are frequented by seniors, and during the hours after school, when many children rely on them as a place to go.

She stressed, though, that the services many people have come to expect from the city may not be available, or not available at the same level, perhaps for a long time to come.

"I do not think the economy will come roaring back. I do think it will come back, but I think that the slope on that line will be very slow," she said.

Suhm did not provide an exact breakdown of city employees who face pink slips because she said she did not want to identify any individuals.

The city currently has 12,875 employees. Of those, 7,411 are civilians and 5,464 are police officers and firefighters.

Though no sworn employees are expected to be laid off, there will be reductions of staff in most city departments. The library system is expected to lose the largest number of employees of any department.

Suhm said that most employees who are let go shouldn't expect to find work in other city departments – something that has been common in the past. The vacant jobs simply won't be available this year, she said.

Suhm already has said she expects civilians will face eight unpaid furlough days next year. In addition, they can expect a nearly 2 percent pay cut on average, she told the Kiwanis club.

"We have done this before. I'm hoping it's temporary and we can restore these cuts in pay over time," she said.

Union meetings

She continues to meet, meanwhile, with representatives of police and fire unions. But the city's sworn employees are still expected to take 5 unpaid furlough days next year.

There are also efforts to have them take comp days instead of overtime pay if they work more than 40 hours a week, she said.

Efforts to save money at City Hall are paying off, she said.

The city's new electricity contract will save the general fund – which pays for most city services – about $2.8 million next year. A new auditing contract will save about $500,000. The numbers are small relative to the city's total budget.

But in trying to close her deficit, and already having cut services and employee pay last year, Suhm said she was looking for "nickels and dimes in the couch."

• • • • •

Aug. 9 – City Manager Mary Suhm presents a proposed budget to the City Council.

Sept. 22 – The council adopts a balanced budget and sets the property tax rate.