gronberg@heraldsun.com; 419-6648
DURHAM -- Local governments were hardly exempt from the effects of the recession, with both the city and county being forced to reduce spending so they could hold the line on property taxes.
City Manager Tom Bonfield's government cut fiscal 2009-10 appropriations by about 2.8 percent, while County Manager Mike Ruffin's slashed 6.2 percent.
Ruffin was able to avoid laying off any of his workers, but Bonfield had the City Council's permission to reduce staff and wound up using it. The reductions could have been worse but for federal stimulus money that officials credit with saving jobs at the Durham Area Transit Authority.
With money tight, the city manager also went looking for programs to cut or change. One of the biggest was a decision to bring recycling collections in-house, a hard-fought move Bonfield has said will ultimately save the city about $1 million in fiscal 2009-10.
But it also contributed to job losses at the company that until this summer had been handling recycling pickups, Tidewater Fibre Inc. It went from employing about 80 people at its Durham facility to employing none. The company's remaining North Carolina operations are now based in Alamance County.
Other cost-cutting moves considered or implemented by city officials include the elimination of the city's in-house nursing staff and a reduction in the use of outside construction-management firms.
A decision about the nursing staff is on hold, but the move to use conventional bidding to find contractors appears likely to save about $1.2 million on a trio of recreation-center renovations.
Ruffin, meanwhile, fought and won a battle with Durham Public Schools leaders about a $2.9 million cut in the allocation of local property tax revenue to the system.
DPS officials argued against the cut, noting that they were also facing state-mandated budget reductions, but County Commissioners stood firmly behind the manager. Ruffin justified his proposal by noting that the system's enrollment hasn't been keeping pace with the county's population growth.
Officials in both governments, mindful of economists' warnings that employment will be slow to recover, are expecting another tough budget year in fiscal 2010-11.
Bonfield and his staff are trying to save money now so the city will have it to help balance the books in the coming fiscal year. The city manager also is already meeting with department heads to get a head start on next spring's budget debate.
Ruffin, meanwhile, has been trying to prod County Commissioners into reaching a consensus on how much, if any, to raise property taxes in the upcoming fiscal year. He expects the county's 2010-11 budget to be squeezed by rising debt payments and continued revenue shortfalls.
