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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 rel y <br />upon their reserves <br />in the event of a catastrophe* for $ 100 <br />.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 fling 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&R over the shared position: In rn <br />opinion, City maintenance projects ought to be prioritized on the <br />basis of what is hest 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 any recom- <br />mended adjustments we would still have a healthy teals of main- <br />tenance professionals: 13 year - round, frontline maintenance <br />workers supplemented by 17 more during the summer, <br />'L <br />VIII. Alternatives <br />A. Cut More. Cut Elsewhere. <br />If you add all the cuts discussed above and subtract the ones spending <br />g <br />increase I recommend, the total, reduction is actually 96, 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 and, if so, to give direction as to the <br />size of the cuts and the program areas to be emphasized or deem ha- <br />. p <br />sized. 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 Report, but maybe you disagree. <br />1 <br />