Mayor Nickels' city budget plan cuts 191 jobs

By Bob Young
Seattle Times staff reporter

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Seattle Mayor Greg Nickels wants to eliminate 191 city jobs as part of his budget proposal for next year.

Cutting the jobs would help the city close a projected $20 million gap between anticipated revenues and the cost of maintaining services. It would mark the biggest job cut Nickels has recommended, trimming the city's 10,327-employee work force by almost 2 percent.

Most city departments would lose jobs under the mayor's plan. But taxpayers would probably not notice the cuts. Roughly 60 percent of the positions are now unfilled. Many of the targeted jobs are administrative. Few provide direct services to the public. No uniformed police or Fire Department positions would be cut.

"We will help affected employees find jobs elsewhere in city government, and we will work with individuals and union representatives to keep layoffs to a minimum," Nickels said in a prepared statement.

The cuts would save about $8 million in spending from the city's general fund. The cuts are the first budget proposal Nickels has unveiled. He will present his 2005-06 budget to the City Council on Monday. The mayor and council are required to approve a new budget by the end of November.

"The city is definitely going in the right direction. It remains to be seen if it's going far enough," said Kriss Sjoblum, an economist at the Washington Research Council, a business-backed think tank.

Sjoblum authored a report last year that said Seattle's budget problems would get worse over the next decade unless the city controlled spending or collected more in taxes.

Deputy Mayor Tim Ceis said he hoped "we're at a sustainable employment level now." If the council approves the mayor's proposal, the city will have cut 501 jobs during Nickels' tenure.

Seattle City Light would take the biggest cut under the mayor's proposal — 44 jobs. Seattle Center is second at 31 jobs. Ceis said the public "could see some effect there" because some of the eliminated jobs would come from the grounds and maintenance crews.

Human Services would lose 19 jobs that Ceis said are now vacant. The Police Department would lose 19 civilian jobs, most of which are administrative support staff members. Uniformed officers would not move into any of those jobs, Ceis said. The Mayor's Office would lose one position.
 
The Fire Department would gain six positions. So would the Department of Planning and Development, which grants building permits.

The City Council adopted a resolution earlier this week that said it would try to maintain the current level of funding "for the full range of vital health and human services."

Bob Young: 206-464-2174 or byoung@seattletimes.com