Seattle Mayor to cut millions from city budget

Seattle Mayor Greg Nickels' staff told City Council members Monday the city must cut millions of dollars worth of projects on parks, Seattle Center and the public libraries to make up for a loss of real-estate excise tax revenue.

Monday's presentation was the most specific the mayor has gotten about planned cuts to the city's general fund and capital projects. The recession means a more than $80 million shortfall in projected revenues for the next two years in the city's general fund. The city also projects a second shortfall of about $25 million in funding for construction and maintenance projects because revenue from real estate taxes is down.

"There are many projects that we've had to reduce or eliminate altogether in order to balance the budget," said Dwight Dively, the city's budget director.

He said the mayor made a priority of projects that were already underway, tried to spend money maintaining what the city already has, and gave preference to projects that benefit "less advantaged communities."

The Seattle City Council already approved the 2009 budget and endorsed the budget for 2010. Now that budget officials project a shortage of funds, it's up to the mayor's office to cut from the approved budget. The council will have to approve changes to the 2010 budget.

The mayor plans to make major cuts to plans for the Seattle Center, erasing about a third of the funding planned for the center in 2009 and 2010. Most of the cancelled projects are routine maintenance, said Deborah Daoust, a spokeswoman for Seattle Center. It's important to keep up McCaw Hall and the Fisher Pavillion so they can compete with other venues for events, she said.

"They'll notice more smudges on the walls, maybe the carpet's looking a little rough. Definitely the opera and ballet patrons will notice if walls aren't painted and scratches are there," she said.

The mayor also is preparing to cut about two-thirds of planned improvements and maintenance to library buildings next year. The city recently completed a library capital campaign, building or remodeling all of Seattle's branch library and building a new downtown building.

In addition, the mayor's office said it will postpone some work on fire stations and cut small projects at some senior centers.

Emily Heffter: 206-464-8246 or eheffter@seattletimes.com