Seattle's budget woes widen to $50 million

Seattle residents got a taste of service cuts this year, including libraries shutting for two weeks. Mayor Greg Nickels said yesterday that 2003 will bring more pain.

Nickels announced that a budget gap of at least $50 million is expected next year, and as a result, city programs will have from 5 percent to 15 percent less money to spend than they need to cover rising costs of services.

Deputy Mayor Tim Ceis said that likely will mean some city layoffs. But precisely how many, and whether the city's budget crunch will mean dirtier streets, unfilled potholes or more library closures, is yet to be seen.

And although Nickels is not considering any tax increases, city officials may turn to another source of money -- more parking tickets.

City Budget Director Dwight Dively said this much is known: The city believes it will have roughly $631 million to spend next year, at least $50 million less than what's needed to preserve current service levels and fulfill the obligations entered into in recent years. For instance, in addition to paying for inflation and rising health care costs, the city must start running a new police station and pay back millions of dollars in loans from park, community center and library measures approved during the free-wheeling 1990s.

In response to the new forecast, Nickels yesterday told city department directors to begin looking for cuts in preparation for a painful budget he will present to the council in September.

"With these latest revenue forecasts, it's clear we must get control of spending now -- city government must start living within its means," Nickels said in a release. "In the 2003-2004 budget, I plan to cut overhead first and direct services last, protecting basic services as much as possible."

Nickels said he seeks 5 percent cuts in the police and fire departments. He said other departments providing direct services -- such as libraries and human services -- would have to cut spending 9 percent to 15 percent. The "cuts" represent the difference between expected revenues and the money needed to cover rising costs.

It is bad news for human services, which already face severe cuts as King County and the state grapple with budget problems.

"We have been urging the mayor to treat (human services) as a public safety issue," said Julia Sterkovsky, executive director of the Seattle Human Services Coalition. "It's not safe to sleep on the streets."

The timing of city budget cuts is bad, she added. "We have families running into welfare time limits, and people who have been able to leave the welfare rolls depend on these services" to reach self-sufficiency, she said. Also, "we are now in an economic recession with a net loss of jobs, which has actually increased the need for services."

Yesterday's news is worse than in January, when Nickels proposed $7 million in cuts this year and said the city should be ready to make $30 million more in cuts next year. City budget forecaster Glen Lee said the previous estimate was based on incomplete numbers and did not fully take into account the dot-com drop-off.

Nickels' aides appeared to lay some blame on former Mayor Paul Schell's administration, noting city spending rose by 39 percent between 1997 and 2002. Dively, who was one of Schell's top aides, noted the region's raging economy often brought more taxes than the city expected. But Ceis said, "There was a tendency to spend it all."

Yesterday's budget news had city officials looking everywhere for money -- maybe even nailing more parking-meter scofflaws.

For unknown reasons, the city collected about $2.5 million less than expected from parking tickets this year.

"We've got to get (enforcement officers) to go out there and do the job, pay overtime if necessary," council budget Chairwoman Jan Drago said.

"Are we saying get out there and give out more parking tickets?" Councilman Jim Compton said.

"We're saying get out there and be more efficient," Ceis said.

P-I reporter Kery Murakami can be reached at 206-448-8029 or kerymurakami@seattlepi.com P-I reporter George Foster contributed to this report.

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