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City Manager's 2004 Budget Recommendations <br />if additional resources are needed above and beyond the insurance <br />coverage we can purchase for $200,000. insurance companies rely <br />upon their reserves in the event of a catastrophe; for $100,000 in <br />premiums we are purchasing the right to tap into the insurance <br />company's reserves. To avoid this significant premium expense the <br />City could rely more on its own reserves. <br />Leaving one maintenance position vacant and filling but sharing <br />the remaining position among two departments is not ideal. We <br />will have to reprioritize maintenance projects. Some projects will <br />not get done as quickly. others will fall off the end of the to -do list <br />and will not get done at all. In addition, we will have to hustle and <br />switch some assignments to maintain the Arboretum properly. <br />Personally, however, I do like the coordination this option requires <br />between public Works and P D over the shared position: In my <br />opinion, city maintenance projects ought to be prioritized on the <br />basis of what is best for the city as a whole, not just on the basis <br />of what is best to fulfill the programs or services of one or another <br />City department. And, as mentioned above, even with my recom- <br />mended adjustments we would still have a healthy team of main - <br />tenance professionals: 13 year- round, front -line maintenance <br />workers supplemented by 17 more during the summer-. <br />VIII. Alternatives <br />A* Cut Mora Cut Elsewhere. <br />If you add all the cuts discussed above and subtract the one spending <br />increase I recommend, the total reduction is actually $596,000. Under <br />current circumstances, I recommend $350,000 in cuts. That gets us <br />half -way toward the $700,000 loss in state funding,,,' it is the Council's <br />prerogative to decide whether to cut acrd, if so, to give-direction as to the <br />size of the cuts and the program areas to be emphasized or deempha- <br />si ed. You could certainly cut more than I recommend and in different <br />areas than I recommend. <br />B. Cut Less or Not at All. <br />Of course, the Council could continue to use City reserve savings to <br />make up for the loss of state funds and to help pay for the new cost in- <br />creases described above. I stated my reasons against such an approach <br />at the beginning of this Deport, but maybe you disagree. <br />1 <br />