Mayor's Revised Budget Proposal Restores Rec Center Hours, Still Cuts Libraries

Mayor Jerry Sanders on Thursday announced he has revised his city budget to restore recreation center hours, but keep most branch libraries open only part-time.

Sanders' previous budget proposal halved the operating hours for recreation centers and libraries to help close an estimated $73 million budget shortfall for Fiscal Year 2012, which begins July 1.

Since then, improved hotel room tax revenue projections and other income have given the mayor more money to work with, he said. The revised budget proposal prioritizes recreation centers because they keep kids off the street, Sanders said. The Park and Recreation Department still will lose the equivalent of about 30 full-time jobs under the draft budget, and libraries could lose 45 positions.

"We'll have at least one large library open in each council district 36 hours a week," Sanders said at a news conference.

According to a memo from the mayor's office, that library would be chosen based on a number of factors, including "size, location, and levels of use of services such as circulation, reference, programs, and computer access."

Other libraries would be "paired," splitting hours between nearby branches so that at least one would be open at a given time, Sanders said.

The initial announcement about cutting library hours in half drew public uproar and unanimous opposition from the City Council, which is on track to restore all of the hours.

Sanders said some of the City Council's options under consideration to fully fund libraries don't work "operationally." For example, ending the use of city-owned cell phones by non-emergency workers would probably only save about half of the $400,000 the Council thinks, Sanders said.

The mayor said none of the options being considered by the Council would prompt him to veto a budget.

Some of the new revenues cited by the mayor include:

City News Service contributed to this report.

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