A memo released to Gainesville city employees Monday has departments scrambling to find solutions to anticipated budget cuts.
The memo, which the Office of the City Manager distributed electronically, requested city departments submit plans, to the city manager’s office to accommodate a 15 percent budget reduction in the respective departments.
According to Gina Hawkins, a spokeswoman with the Gainesville Public Works Department, the memo was one of at least a dozen updates since July 2009 from the City Manager’s office about the 2009-2010 and 2011-2012 fiscal periods.
But looming budget cuts are nothing new to Gainesville. The city has undergone about $10 million in cuts over the past three years, according to city spokesman Bob Woods.
For the 2011 fiscal year, Woods said the city is looking at a $5.6 million deficit, with the 2012 figures expected to hit a $6.9 million deficit.
However, Woods reiterated the plans were not final and that some departments may not have to make 15 percent reductions. The plans are part of what Woods described as an exhaustive process that he estimated could continue until late June when City Manager Russ Blackburn submits his recommendations.
Woods said it’s too early to tell if certain agencies will have to make budget cuts that surpass 15 percent.
But for agencies such as the Gainesville Police Department, a 15 percent reduction would be a multi-million dollar setback.
According to GPD spokesman Capt. Ed Book, a 15 percent cut would amount to $3.9 million of the GPD budget.
Book said GPD Chief Tony Jones is currently working on the GPD plan, which should be ready to present to the City Manager’s office either Thursday or Friday. GPD is hopeful the city commission will place a high priority in public safety when it’s deciding its budget cuts.
