July 6, 2006

Nancy Pyle offers details of finalized city budget

By Nancy Pyle
District 10 councilmember

Each year the city faces the challenge of working with residents to meet their needs while overcoming the challenges of economic slowdown and the consequent cuts to the budget. Over the past two years I have worked with my fellow council members to meet difficult budget challenges and to provide excellent quality services to the wonderful and diverse group of residents who call the city of San Jose home.

The economic slowdown has posed a challenge for community members across our city, leading to a reduction of $263 million in the city’s budget since 2002. Through prudent financial planning and management, balancing our budgets through streamlining, vacancy savings, program reductions, sensible use of reserves, and other creative solutions we have made it possible to maintain and expand the scope of well being for residents across our fine city.

This year we again faced a budget shortfall for FY 2006-2007, projected to be $34.89 million. While this shortfall had the potential to threaten the city’s ability to provide important public services like public safety, crime prevention and maintaining our parks and streets, I was committed to working towards innovative and fiscally sound solutions to ensure that as many programs and services were maintained as possible.

Some of the proposed cuts in the city manager’s budget included:

- Elimination of the Truancy Abatement-Burglary Suppression (TABS) program
- Eliminate the Future Teacher Loan program
- Reduce park maintenance

In the finalized budget all these programs were funded.

Emergency Communication System Support (ECSS) fee
To protect and maintain many of the areas of funding in the city, which I know District 10 residents hold dear, we must take steps to find alternative sources of funding. One of the ways we can do this is through the city manager’s recommendation to extend the ECSS fee. This fee would add an additional $10.4 million to the General Fund, and cost the average tax payer $1.75 a month on their phone bill, and allows us to see the following impacts:

- Preserve the jobs of 73 city employees who might otherwise have been laid off

- Save the staff of the San Jose Prepared program

- Continuation of the Neighborhood Automobile Speed Compliance program

- Prevent cuts to police and fire administrative staff

- Preserve the Safe School Campus Initiative

- Continued support and funding for the Crime Prevention Unit & Police Traffic Enforcement

- Completely halt a potential program reduction of 42 percent to the School Crossing Guards program
1st annual District 10 budget/neighborhood forum

On May 6 I hosted our first annual District 10 budget forum, which was held to answer resident’s questions and address concerns regarding the proposed budget while providing residents the opportunity to give valuable community input and feedback. Assistant City Manager Mark Linder gave an excellent overview of the proposed budget and participants were given a voice regarding their own personal recommendations. Through this event, I was reminded just how strongly residents feel about certain city service areas and I heard the overwhelming support from residents who supported the ECSS fee in order to save the programs and services which matter so much to all of us. Residents also wanted to see fewer cuts to our parks and community centers, and I could not have agreed more (For more results and information from our first District 10 budget forum, please my Web site at www.sanjoseca.gov/district10.).

With such overwhelming support for these services, I knew it was necessary to take direct action so I authored a budget memo to the mayor requesting the inclusion of two additional staff positions at our newly opened Almaden Community Center. I know that these positions will aid the countless number of residents who visit the center everyday and it is my hope they add to your enjoyment of this fantastic new facility. In addition to the this step, I also worked with our Parks, Recreation and Neighborhood Services staff to ensure that residents are able to enjoy necessary services at many of our local parks, including gaining access to restroom facilities seven days a week at Vista Park’s new Community Room which will host the VEP community associations monthly meetings.

While I was pleased to work toward improving service from our parks and community centers, when I heard that the school crossing guards program could face cuts of up to 42 percent, I knew that immediate and forceful steps had to be taken to preserve this critical and lifesaving program. Putting our children in harms way is unacceptable, and cuts to this program would do just that. Following several discussions with concerned District 10 parents, I met with a number of colleagues and worked with the mayor to ensure that every intersection that qualifies for a crossing guard will continue to be funded.

2006-2007 city budget
On June 20, I voted to approve our city’s budget. Among the points for District 10 of which I am most proud are:

- Reconciliation of the $34.89 million shortfall

- The addition of two staff positions for the Almaden Community Center

- Allowing use and maintenance of the Vista Park restrooms 7 days a week

- No elimination of the crossing guards who work to protect our children

- Ten additional Police Officers

I am pleased to say that this budget continues our city’s ambitious program to improve and expand neighborhood parks and libraries, as well as fire stations and the Southern Police Substation. In short, it allows us to complete many of the projects overwhelmingly approved by you, the San Jose voters.

As we look toward the coming year, I am confident that this newly approved budget will give us the direction and the ability to continue with the long-overdue investment in our neighborhoods our residents so deeply deserve.