Sacramento's new budget will lead to fewer cops on the street, nearly 200 layoffs of city workers overall and reduced services that will make this a less liveable city.
But if the city's employee unions will put residents first, there could still be a reprieve.
In the 2011-12 budget approved Tuesday night by the City Council, the biggest cut is $12 million from the Police Department. A federal grant will allow 35 patrol officers to stay on the job. That still means 42 sworn officers will be laid off after June 30, plus 66 civilian employees.
Yet, there's an obvious deal to be done.
Police officers and firefighters receive the most generous pensions, but unlike most other city employees, do not pay anything into their pension plans. If they chipped in the same 4 percent of their salaries, that would save the city more than $4 million a year.
Mayor Kevin Johnson and council members Angelique Ashby and Steve Cohn, who voted against the budget because of the public safety cuts, want to make an offer: The city would match dollar for dollar any ongoing concessions from the police and fire unions – up to $2.5 million for police and $1.5 million for fire.
That equals – you guessed it – $4 million, and would be enough to avert any layoffs of sworn officers.
Unfortunately, the police union does not appear willing to play ball.
Brent Meyer, president of the Sacramento Police Officers Association, said in an email Wednesday that he does not expect an agreement before July 1. Noting that the union made concessions two years ago, he says it wouldn't be right to make any more until its contract comes up in June 2013.
He argues that all unions should be treated equally. He's right: Local 39, the union that represents forensics experts, garbage truck drivers and other city employees, extracted a better deal from City Hall last year, and it needs to ante up as well.
In a confrontational letter to his members last week, Meyer also took potshots at council members who voted for the police cuts – criticisms that are bound to backfire.
The SPOA is apparently holding out for a tax measure on the 2012 ballot to take the pressure off before its contract expires. But there's no guarantee of passage – particularly if voters are turned off by the attitude the police union is now exhibiting.
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