Budget Passes, City Hall to Cut 17 Jobs

In his four years on Lakewood City Council, vice president Brian Powers said the city has made reductions to the budget each year.

It didn’t get any easier this year.

Making things more difficult this year, Powers said, were cuts to the city’s local government fund from the state of Ohio — to the tune of about $1.1 million.

On Monday, council OK’d a budget that will slash 17 positions in city hall across all departments, sparing only the .

Before the regularly scheduled council meeting Monday, members of the city’s budget committee — headed up by Powers — only had to iron out details.

Council met several times , and only a few minor changes were made from the original 173-page document.

The budget calls for the positions to be eliminated through attrition — a process that’s already begun.

“I think great leadership and planning by the administration, and after a lot of discussion on council, I think we ended up at the right place,” Powers said. “There wasn’t anything that was a surprise — that doesn’t make it any easier.”

Unlike many cities, Lakewood passes its annual budget before the budget year. Cities aren’t required to finalize annual budgets until March.

“It makes it the holidays a little harder, but ultimately its best for the citizens of Lakewood,” Powers said.

Lakewood officials have had time to prepare the 2012 forecast since June when Gov. John Kasich signed the , which slashed the city’s local government fund to the tune of about $1.1 million and eliminated about $200,000 in commercial activity tax.

Adding to the bad news, tax revenues are expected to remain flat in 2012.

To cope with the decrease in revenues, the proposed budget lays out a few key ideas:

• Not replace employees who retire, but rather consolidate positions. In July, city hall OK’d the . Expect more of the same in 2012. 
• Analyze cost savings of electricity, office supplies, fleet size and working with vendors. 
• Explore new revenue sources, such as fees and assessments.

“This budget is a good budget,” said Lakewood Mayor Michael Summers. “It protects our services, shrinks our government, meets our obligations and revenues, but it basically begins serious conversation for 2013.”