Mount Pleasant City Commission advances planned cuts in proposed 2011 budget

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The Mount Pleasant City Commission agreed to move forward with the proposed  $1 million budget reduction for 2011.

The commission met during a two-hour work session Monday night to discuss the proposed 2011 city budget plan.

“The biggest hurdle is trying to make the cuts that are necessary without adversely making this a less safe place to live and to keep the quality of life as good as we can,” said Vice Mayor Bruce Kilmer. “It’s a real balancing act because we’re used to some of these programs. How can we cut some of them and not adversely affect our city?”

The city commission spent the first half of the meeting discussing the proposed changes in the police department.

For 2010, the City of Mount Pleasant budgeted 32 police officers, three of whom are detectives and 21 of whom are patrol officers.

However, there are currently two vacant positions in the police department.

Only 20 patrol officers are currently on duty and since November only two detectives have been employed.

The remaining detective work has been absorbed by other officers in the police department.

The commission agreed public safety is a huge priority and decided to hire an additional patrol officer to help ease the workload of officers in the department.

The detective position will remain vacant to account for a portion of the necessary budget cuts for the upcoming year.

The commission agreed to monitor any discrepancies in public safety and make adjustments in the future if necessary.

“We’ll only know the impact from having it happen,” Commissioner David McGuire said.

Commissioner Kathleen Ling expressed concern over the proposed recreation funding cuts.

She said several city residents have said they would rather pay an increase in recreational fees than see recreation programs, such as the summer youth soccer program, get cut.

“I’m not saying we shouldn’t make cuts, but $90,000 is beyond my comfort level,” she said.

Commissioner Jon Joslin said some recreation cuts cannot be avoided and community members may have to host some recreational services the city can no longer fund.

An amended proposal for the 2011 budget cuts is expected to be presented to the city commission in August or September.

The commission agreed to monitor most proposed changes to evaluate their effectiveness and make adjustments in the future if necessary.

“Every single one of these things we wish we did not have to do,” City Manager Kathie Grinzinger said. “Yes, it will probably have an impact. Can we live with that in the light of finding $1 million? I think we can.”