November 25, 2004

Council surveys villagers about cuts

By Robert Mihalek

A Village survey, now scheduled to begin in December, contains a number of questions about Village services that could be eliminated or paired down, including the Gaunt Park Pool, Mayor’s Court and police dispatching.

These services have been included in the survey by Village Council, which wants to gauge community support for both cutting costs through the reduction or elimination of some services and raising revenue by increased taxes, fees or utility rates.

The survey asks Yellow Springers whether they want to maintain, reduce or eliminate several Village services. All of the services included in the survey are part of the Village’s multi-fund budget, or general fund, which is supported by income taxes and other various revenue sources. The multi-fund accounts for most of the Village’s services except for the utilities.

Council agreed not to include the utilities in the survey, indicating that Council is not considering selling those services.

This week, the Village distributed an educational brochure, primarily prepared by Council president Tony Arnett, providing an overview of the Village’s current financial situation and including various options that have been identified to raise money and reduce costs.

This week, Wright State was scheduled to begin the phone version of the survey, which will target 309 randomly selected households, but that effort has been delayed a few weeks. After the phone survey is complete, a paper form of the questionnaire will be distributed to all local households.

This article aims to provide readers with information on those services and the potential savings if changes are made. Last week, the News reported on the options listed in the survey that focus on raising revenue for the Village.

• Gaunt Park Pool
The Gaunt Park Pool is not considered a money-maker and it does not come close to generating enough income to pay to run the pool. In 2004, the Village budgeted $78,668 for the pool, while the pool brought in $23,609. That’s a difference of $55,059, which is covered by the multi-fund. The survey states that the average household cost for maintaining the pool is $35 a year. This cost comes on top of revenue the pool generates.

In recent years, the Village has attempted to close the gap between the pool’s costs and revenue, including raising rates, reducing hours of operations, focusing on entry requirements and offering additional services, such as a concession stand, after-hour events and an additional adult lap swim. “Some gains” have been realized, Village Manager Rob Hillard said.

Based on recent trends, shutting down the pool would save the Village approximately $50,000 a year, plus future capital expenses, which includes a $150,000 project to replace the pool’s leaky gutter. Council has delayed the gutter project for several years because of its expense. The pool’s costs include staffing — the streets crew, which maintains the pool, and nine guards, including the manager and assistant manager — as well as various operating supplies.

Hillard admitted that the pool “can break even,” adding that “if we must we must, we can do it.” However, breaking even would require a “significant reduction” in hours and staffing and increased fees, he said.

• Yellow Springs police dispatch
The survey asks Yellow Springers whether they would support eliminating dispatching in the Yellow Springs Police Department and contracting the service with another larger department, possibly in Xenia, Beavercreek or Fairborn. The survey says this move could save the Village $75,000 or more a year.

According to the survey, Yellow Springs is “the only small community in Greene County to have its own dispatch service.” Currently, the Village offers dispatching services on a 24/7 basis. The staff includes three full-timers and seven part-timers.

The Police Department has the largest budget among the Village’s activities in the general fund, and the second largest overall, after the electric system. The draft 2005 Village budget projects that the police force will spend $1.057 million next year, including almost $919,000 in personnel costs. The department’s employee costs have risen nearly $180,000 from 2002 to 2005, the draft budget shows.

If dispatching were contracted out, the Village would continue to maintain its police force and Yellow Springs officers would still respond to calls from dispatchers outside the Village, Hillard and Police Chief Carl Bush said. “The most notable difference” would be that other than officers, the police station would not be staffed 24 hours a day, Bush said.

The department would hire administrative support staff, or a records clerk, who would likely work in the Bryan Center during normal business hours, Bush said. The dispatchers fill such administrative duties now, Hillard said, though the department has a need for more administrative assistance.

Administrative support staff would answer business phone calls and in-person requests during the day and provide Yellow Springers with records requests, Bush and Hillard said. At night and on weekends, villagers would call a non-emergency number at the contracted department. Emergency utility calls, which are often taken by the police today, would be handled by the contracted department, Hillard said.

• Mayor’s Court
The Village expects to receive $35,000 in fines from Mayor’s Court and another $2,000 from Xenia Municipal Court, which also hears cases from Yellow Springs and sends some fines back to the Village. The court’s budget for 2005 is $37,299, most of which pays the salary and benefits for the clerk, June Allison. The survey reports that the average household cost for Mayor’s Court is $8 a year. Hillard said that the court’s revenue helps the court continue to be “financially viable.”

Hillard said that he expects the Yellow Springs Police Department, which had to hire two new police officers in recent months, to be able to focus more on enforcement, thus bringing in more revenue through fines. Though, he added, he does “not send messages to the police force to write more tickets to make more money.” He just asks the officers “to do their jobs,” he said.

If Mayor’s Court were eliminated, most court proceedings would go to Xenia Municipal Court. Because Mayor’s Court is included in the Village Charter, local residents might have to approve the elimination of the court, Hillard said.

The existence of Yellow Springs Mayor’s Court also gives the community control over some court cases, an expense that is hard to quantify.

• Village Mediation Program
In 2003, Council eliminated a paid position with the Village Mediation Program, though later Council agreed to add a small amount of money to the program’s budget to pay for a part-time coordinator. The Village has budgeted $7,000 for VMP, $5,000 of which is for the coordinator, Tucker Malishenko.

In 2002, the Village spent $13,333 on a coordinator. VMP’s budget has declined by $8,771 from 2002 to 2005, the draft budget shows.

With Malishenko’s help, volunteers have been running VMP. Last year, members of the VMP Steering Committee said that the program needed a paid coordinator to support the “intake” process, when those needing mediation usually make first contact with the program.

Members of the VMP Steering Committee have said that the intake process must be handled in a consistent and professional manner and would not be as effective if it were managed by volunteers. If the Village completely cuts funding for the program, VMP would likely be eliminated, Hillard indicated.

Len Kramer, a member of the VMP Steering Committee, said that he does not think the mediation program can exist in its current form without funding.

He also said that the Village and Council have been supportive of the program and noted that VMP now handles about 40 cases a year, many of which are referred to the program by Village staff. “We feel we provide a useful service for the Village,” Kramer said.

• Cable access channel 13
As it did for VMP, in 2003 Council eliminated funding for a paid position for channel 13, the local public access station run out of the Bryan Center. The channel is completely run by volunteers and is overseen by the Village Cable Advisory Panel. Next year, the channel is expected to spend $1,500 in operational expenses, a decrease of $14,309 from 2002, when the Village spent $15,809 on the channel, including $11,789 on a part-time coordinator.

The channel’s operational costs for 2005 do not include an estimated $30,000 the cable panel wants to spend upgrading the station’s equipment. Those capital funds were accumulated several years ago from proceeds gained from the Village’s franchise agreement with Time Warner. Proceeds from that contract are now placed in the general fund.

While volunteers can run channel 13, Hillard said that at some point the Village would have to spend funds on additional equipment upgrades. The quality of the station’s programming and picture would suffer if the Village does not reinvest in channel 13, Hillard said.

• Greene County Animal Control
The Village currently contracts with Greene County Animal Control for what Hillard described as an “extended” package of services, which include removing dead wildlife from roadways, providing traps and providing extended hours of enforcement of domestic animal calls.

The Village would have to handle many of these services if the Village eliminated its contract with Animal Control. “We would respond the best we could to complaints,” Hillard said.

In 2005, the Village has budgeted $8,320 for Animal Control services. These funds come from the multi-fund.

• Bryan Center youth activities
Next year, the Village has budgeted $3,500 for an activity called Bryan Center youth, $1,500 of which comes from funding from the United Way. The Bryan youth fund pays for field trips, including one to Kings Island, and the game room in the Bryan Center. The Village does not charge to use the Bryan Center gym, Hillard said.

Eliminating the Bryan Center youth fund would force the Village to close the game room and stop taking field trips, Hillard said.

In addition, the Village would reduce its costs for “building monitors” who watch the Bryan Center during business and weekend hours and clean the building. The Village could realize $20,000 in savings by reducing the use of the monitors, Hillard said.