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Making city government more efficient, effective... Chris Simmons, City Commissioner

Opinion section - Battle Creek Enquirer , Sunday, April 06, 2008

Over the next two months the Battle Creek City Commission will set tax rates and establish a budget for fiscal year 2008-09. In these tough economic times I believe that it is important for the city to continue tightening its belt the same way tax-paying citizens of Battle Creek have had to over the last several years. It is no longer acceptable to ask citizens to increasingly fund an ever-expanding bureaucracy while they themselves have to make sacrifices to pay higher costs for fuel, utilities, food, education, etc., all while their wages remain stagnant and their housing values decline.

I am supporting a move, along with several other commissioners, to cut the city budget by 3 percent or roughly $1.4 million. This is a realistic decrease that can be made without a significant reduction in the level of services. I maintain that through increased efficiencies, downsizing and working smarter, the city can even improve its level of providing essential services.

When Kellogg Co. closed its South Plant in fiscal year 1999-2000, the City of Battle Creek had to cut approximately 10 percent (over $4 million) from the budget. Through increased efficiencies and other measures, we were able to absorb that reduction of revenue and still continue to provide a high level of service. This has also been the case over the last several years of declining state revenue sharing. Just because revenue has stabilized or begun to increase again, now is not the time to go on a spending spree. There is no reason we cannot continue on a path of fiscal responsibility through increasing efficiency and downsizing to reflect changes in our community such as the population decrease or a shrinking tax base.

Over the next five years at least 30 percent of city employees are eligible for retirement. We can realize significant savings by eliminating many of these positions through attrition. Remaining employees will have to be more efficient, work smarter and cross-train to do other jobs. This is same thing most employees in the private sector have been asked to do for many years now.

I also maintain that we can improve and expand the level of service through working smarter and more efficiently. Rather than resigning ourselves to the fact that restoring leaf pickup will cost an additional $100,000 in the budget, why not look at ways to provide this service during the regular course of business? We already have the staff and equipment, so why not try to integrate this task into the workday? Over the winter when the snow was not flying, we saw our snowplow drivers helping to remove trees and it worked very well.

We have departments in Battle Creek that provide redundant services that could be consolidated for considerable savings. Neighborhood services, for example, does rental code compliance and neighborhood planning. Why not fold the rental code compliance into our existing code compliance office and other neighborhood services into our planning and community development department? We can maintain the great momentum in improving our neighborhoods that this department has achieved but do it in a fiscally responsible manner.

We also need to take a serious look at the sustainability of facilities like Full Blast, which is in the red over $800,000. If it is not able to be self-sufficient, we need to make a tough decision on whether we as a city want to continue subsidizing it.

I encourage you to contact us, your commissioners, and share your thoughts. We will be lobbied heavily over the next few months by city departments and special interest groups seeking to maintain or increase their piece of the pie. But it is to you, the tax-paying citizens, whom we are ultimately accountable.

With all of these changes the long-term goal is to make city government as efficient and effective as possible. These progressive changes will allow us to reduce tax rates and make our community a more attractive place for people to live and do business. This growth will in turn increase our tax base and allow the city to continue to provide services that will improve our quality of life.