At a Saturday, December 5 public hearing, Lancaster City officials presented an in-depth breakdown of their 2010 departmental budgets to members of the City Council as well as about 30 city residents.
The first presentation came from Randy Patterson, Director of the Department of Economic Development and Neighborhood Revitalization (DEDNR). The 2010 DEDNR budget rings in at $2,098,494, 5% less than the $2,222,660 budgeted for 2009. Patterson said that, despite budget cuts, he does not expect to see a significant reduction in department services. He did note, however, that major cuts to the Pennsylvania Department of Economic Development will reduce the likelihood of State financing for projects in Lancaster City next year.
Former mayor and defeated 2009 mayoral candidate Charlie Smithgall questioned the City’s recent switch from in-house inspection services to Advanced Building Inspections (ABI), n third-party firm. Smithgall noted that some business owners and contractors in the city have been frustrated by the high fees levied by the company for seemingly minor services.
Patterson admitted that, although the City continues to correct some issues with ABI, the change will, in the long run, provide for strong budgetary savings through the elimination of former full-time employees. Patterson added that the City is also preparing to release a request for proposals to arrange additional options for inspection services, which is the norm in other municipalities.
Randolph Carney, a city resident, noted that, before inspections were outsourced, raising costs for individual contractors, city taxpayers were, in effect, subsidizing those high inspection costs.
Fire Chief Timothy Gregg later presented the 2010 Fire Department budget, totaling $9,633,127 as compared to the $9,678,362 budgeted for 2009. The department is planning for nine positions less than the previous year.
Gregg described the department’s staffing as “very hierarchical,” holding an excess of supervisory positions: “We have 30 supervisors for 85 members in our department. We need to look at flattening that structure. If we are reduced by nine employees this budget season, we still will have the same 30 supervisors.”
In the course of implementing the department’s position removals for 2009, Gregg said that he hopes to convince longer-standing, higher-ranking, higher-paid employees to settle with early retirement packages. Younger firefighters, Gregg stressed, are “the future” of the department. A long-employed firefighter in the audience echoed Greggs’ comments on the value of younger hands, adding that he, for one, would seriously consider any retirement offer brought before him.
Police Chief Keith Sadler detailed the Police Department budget for 2010, which will total $19,868,272 as compared to the $20,012,066 budgeted for 2009. The department will be phasing out a total of thirteen positions—ten of which will no longer be needed in absence of the former Lancaster Township police contract; three of which will be regular police personnel.
As with the Fire Department, Sadler hopes to keep as many young patrolmen on staff as possible. If the department can work out early retirement deals with older officers with 20-25 years experience, Sadler said, the personnel budget could effectively tighten without losing officers on the street.
The Police Department, Sadler also noted, will be receiving more than $300,000 worth of grant funding for technology and equipment improvements that the department would not have otherwise been able to purchase.
