Bellevue council faces budget with $11M in cuts

A proposed budget from Bellevue's city manager that will get its first public airing Monday could include layoffs, shutting down the Bellevue police substation downtown and reducing other city services to cope with declining revenue.

The Bellevue City Council will get its first look Monday at the preliminary city budget for 2011-2012, which proposes cuts of $11 million, or about 5 percent of last year's operating budget.

The city has faced declining revenue as the economy struggles to regain its footing, with the sales tax, business-and-occupation taxes and utility taxes dropping.

The city already slashed its budget last year, shrinking operating expenses by about $10 million to survive the economic downturn, but the city used temporary measures, such as freezing positions. This year, the city is taking more permanent steps to decrease its budget by $11 million, for an annual operating budget of roughly $151 million.

The proposed budget would eliminate roughly 85 full-time positions, including laying off around 25 employees, said city spokesman Tim Waters. Most employees facing layoffs are aware their positions may be cut, he said.

"Nobody wants to lay off anybody in this atmosphere of no jobs, but we're down to the level that we have to take an honest look at that," said Mayor Don Davidson.

Closing the police substation has been proposed because police headquarters are at Bellevue City Hall a block away, and there is a 24-hour police presence there, Waters said.

"We wouldn't expect public safety to be jeopardized at all," he said.

Other proposed savings would come from reducing hours for street lighting in commercial parts of the city to save on energy costs, and cutting back on tree maintenance, he said. Community centers that see a drop in revenue on weekends due to low demand — including North Bellevue, South Bellevue, Highland and Crossroads — also could close on Friday evenings and weekends. Other projects, such as adding speed bumps to neighborhood streets, may be reduced or eliminated, Waters said.

Sarkozy also may propose cuts to the capital budget, which funds infrastructure like roads and other long-term projects, with the goal of reducing about $100 million from the $300 million, seven-year capital-improvement plan.

There are no proposals to raise taxes, although there are some recommendations to increase fees including those for parks or business licenses.

But the council isn't scheduled to vote on the final budget until December.

"There's a lot of debate to go on between now and adopting the budget," Davidson said.

The third and final public hearing about the budget will take place in November.

Nicole Tsong: 206-464-2150 or ntsong@seattletimes.com