Niles safety forces to face cuts in ’09

By Jordan Cohen

The city auditor says a carryover from 2008 will help the bottom line.

NILES — The finishing touches are not quite complete, but budget cuts average 5 percent among the city’s safety forces, according to Auditor Charles Nader.

“I had hoped for 10 percent across the board, but that was impossible because those budgets are heavy on wages and benefits,” Nader said. “Still, we did not put any extras in the benefits.”

Nader released a tentative budget showing that wages and benefits for the police department in 2009 will be cut by more than 5.5 percent. The auditor had to estimate those figures because contract negotiations for the safety forces have not been completed.

The auditor anticipates that police wages and benefits will cost the city nearly $3.8 million and the fire department nearly $3 million in 2009.

The remainder of police appropriations excluding pay and benefits, however, has been sliced by more than $170,000 from what Chief Bruce Simeone presented at the start of budget hearings earlier this month.

“That’s more than a 30 percent cut from what he wanted,” Nader said.

During those hearings, Simeone had asked for the city to fund the purchase of five new cruisers because some of the vehicles are at least 10 years old. Mayor Ralph Infante rejected the request, but said he would “revisit” it once the city’s financial picture becomes clearer.

Unlike police, fire department wages and benefits for 2009 were reduced by just $9,000 or 0.3 percent because there was very little remaining for the city to eliminate, according to the auditor.

In all other categories, the fire department also felt the ax, which chopped nearly 30 percent from what Chief Gary Brown had requested. Brown asked for more than $162,000, but the appropriation has been set at $114,000.

Nader said that a $4 million carryover from the city’s general fund this year will help keep Niles afloat.

Earlier this month, council approved an emergency resolution appropriating funds for city operations for the first three months of 2009. Income tax collections in Niles, however, have declined by more than $400,000 from the 2007 collection. Nader said the decline could be as much as $450,000 in 2009.

“We don’t get our projected [income] tax figures until March or April, but if it looks like more money will come in, we’ll adjust,” Nader said.

“If somebody needs something, we try to get it for them.”