No budget in Belmont, talks with labor groups ongoing

Belmont will begin Fiscal Year 2010-11 without a budget as the City Council voted last night to delay adoption until agreements are in place with four labor groups. The council will hear the budget again at its next meeting in July. FY 2010-11 begins Thursday. The council delayed voting on the budget last week, in part, so Councilman Dave Warden could participate in the discussion since he missed the meeting. A budget was presented to the council May 22 and was set for adoption June 8. The vote got pushed back to June 22 and then June 29 and now to July. Belmont faces a $1.3 million deficit and sought wage concessions from city workers to the tune of $455,000 to help trim the deficit. The city is still negotiating with the Belmont Police Officers Association, Mid-management and Confidential Employees Association, American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees and unrepresented management for wage concessions. Rather than force a budget on the city, the council decided to continue speaking with the labor groups to avoid reducing hours and eliminating positions. "There are no labor agreements in place," Mayor Christine Wozniak said. Warden suggested the council delay the vote last night. The city is in active discussions with the labor groups and has conducted several closed sessions to hash out agreements. "It is better for everybody coming out of the process that we did it together," Wozniak said. "The gravity of the problem is really serious." Belmont's reserve is dwindling rapidly, down nearly $1.5 million from just two years ago when it was $4 million. The reserve is projected to dip just below the $2 million mark by 2014. Vice Mayor Coralin Feierbach has made it clear that dipping into the reserves is not the way to solve the budget. Going forward, Feierbach says she intends to take a closer look at the city's reserves. Acting City Manager Carlos De Melo, Finance Director Thomas Fil and Police Chief Don Mattei have all represented the city in labor negotiations as Belmont has not hired a replacement for Jack Crist, the city's former city manager who retired in February. The council met in closed session Sunday to interview potential city manager candidates and will meet again tonight in closed session to discuss the hiring. The city's appropriations limit is $12.5 million. Its base revenue budget for fiscal year 2010-11 is roughly $58 million, which includes the Belmont Fire Protection District, Redevelopment Agency debt service and the city's sewer enterprise fund. The Capital Improvement Program budget is $23.5 million and the city will maintain permanent staffing at 131.65 full-time equivalents. Sales and use tax in the city is down by more than $663,000 and the hotel tax is down by more than $291,000, comprising most of Belmont's general fund revenue shortfall. Bill Silverfarb can be reached by e-mail: silverfarb@smdailyjournal.com or by phone: (650) 344-5200 ext. 106.