PORT ST. LUCIE — Smaller annual festivals.

No more streets decorated with lights during holiday seasons.

And possibly, no more fireworks.

These are among several cost-cutting measures residents could see next year that could save a couple city jobs, Budget Director David Pollard said.

Although he couldn’t estimate a total cost savings for his proposed cuts, he said the cost to keep the average city employee is $60,000 and police officer is $80,000.

He’s proposing a list of special events and activities be cut or scaled back from next year’s city budget, which is weighted down with a $14 million deficit.

“Some people will miss them — maybe others won’t,” Pollard said. “The bottom line is the city had to make some cutbacks somewhere.”

Although $60,000 worth of holiday lights at public buildings and major intersections annually paid for by the city’s general fund would be gone, lights the city bought for outside the community center and inside the Civic Center still would be displayed during the holidays.

Because the Parks and Recreation Department is cutting back its overtime budget, it has fewer staff available for events. Pollard is proposing to reduce, by a undetermined amount, the cost of the Holiday Tree Lighting, Fall Festival, Festival of Lights, Bonfire Hayride, Eggstravaganza and Freedomfest.

Other parks and recreation services would change, including an undecided amount of reductions in caring for athletic fields and mowing neighborhood and open space parks.

Also, the Human Resources Department would no longer use tax dollars for a couple of its annual city employee events.

The usual $5,000 cost - not including revenue from ticket sales - of the city employees’ holiday party would be covered only by ticket sales.

City employees’ annual summer picnic, which costs $500, not including revenue from ticket sales, no longer would be budgeted. Pollard said the employees still may do something informal on their own money.

The cost cuts are minor, Pollard said, but they add up.

“In order to try to preserve the perhaps core services of the community — such as police protection and keeping the parks open,” he said, “we’re having to forgive some other items that are perhaps less important.”

And Pollard expects much of the same the following year given the possibility of another drop in property values.

“We are facing more than just one year of financial strain,” he said. “We have forecast that we will need to hold the line on (costs).”

City Manager Don Cooper, though, said he still wants to keep the fireworks in next year’s budget. The city would renew its $60,000 contract, Pollard said, half of which is covered by annual donations.

The decision and budget won’t be official until after next month’s public hearings.
By Laurie K. Blandford, TCPalm.com

Tags: budget, cutbacks, festival, fireworks, holiday

This entry was posted on Friday, August 7th, 2009 at 11:15 am and is filed under Community events, Economy, Port St. Lucie. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.