WESTMINSTER — Budget woes are forcing city officials to cut jobs, re-evaluate a domestic- violence prevention program and eliminate family-friendly activities such as the annual Easter egg hunt and holiday elf village.
It is all part of an effort to make up for an estimated $5.1 million budget shortfall in 2011.
In all, 69 full-time employee slots are slated to be pared. Many of those jobs are vacant, and others will be lost through retirement or attrition, but that still leaves about 17 people who will have to be let go.
“It hurts, there is no doubt about that,” said Barbara Opie, the city’s special-budget and projects manager.
City Manager Brent McFall, who makes $209,175, volunteered to take a 5 percent pay cut.
The dreary economic climate makes the budget slashing essential, Opie said, especially because last year the city used $6.9 million in one-time funds to balance the budget.
“This is about living within our means and doing it in a manner that continues to provide value and quality services to our residents and customers,” McFall said.
Two programs on the budgetary block are the Fast-Track Domestic Violence Program and the rental-housing inspection program.
Fast-Track began in 1991 and speeds up the handling of misdemeanor domestic-violence cases — including assault, criminal mischief and harassment — through the municipal courts. It is a popular program with many City Council members, who might continue it by increasing fines levied in court to pay for services, Opie said.
The rental-housing inspection program started in 1997 and requires regular inspections of multifamily residential units as well as complaint-based inspections in other dwellings.
Staff members are proposing an inspection fee of $40 per unit for multifamily rental properties in the city, which could generate about $170,000 a year, the city said.
Other programs appear doomed. The Easter Eggstravaganza will probably be eliminated.
Also on the chopping block are the Mother/Daughter Tea and Mother/Son Bowling, as well as the holiday elf village at City Hall and the holiday lighting at 72nd Avenue and Federal Boulevard.
Library hours and recreation center hours also will be pared.
The city is looking at scrapping or cutting back programs that don’t necessarily benefit the community at large, Opie said.
“We’re trying to figure out how we can benefit the most people with our stretched resources,” she said.
Monte Whaley: 720-929-0907 or mwhaley@denverpost.com
