Cuts to Redondo Beach Harbor Patrol proposed as part of budget balancing
June 11, 2020
City staff reports a projected current year net budget shortfall of $1 million due to Covid-19 and has proposed dozens of budget modifications to recoup those funds.
REDONDO BEACH—A 33 percent reduction of staffing in Redondo Beach’s Harbor Patrol Division has been proposed as one of many budget modifications to recoup a budget shortfall due to Covid-19.
On May 16, the mayor and City Council received the Proposed Budget for FY 2020-2021 and the Proposed Five-Year Capital Improvement Program (CIP) for FY 2020-2025.
“At this moment in time, our local economy has ground to a near standstill as the result of health orders implemented to save lives and to slow the spread of COVID-19,” Redondo Beach City Manager Joseph Hoefgen wrote in the budget document presented to City Council.
The proposed budget projects a current year net budget shortfall of $1 million, resulting from a revenue loss of $5.1 million, offset in part by projected departmental savings of $2.5 million in FY 2019-20.
One of the proposed budget modifications, Decision Package #29, would eliminate one-third of the staffing in the Harbor Patrol Division. It would also require affected employees to fill vacant fire captain and firefighter paramedic positions at the other two fire stations and reduce service hours for Fire Station 3 (Harbor Patrol) by one-third. The savings from the reduced staffing and operations total $543,742.
The package also recommends reduced appropriations of $543,742 to the Harbor Tidelands Fund.
Nearly every department would be touched by the proposed budget modifications. Hoefgen reported non-safety departments were given a 15 percent targeted amount for reduction, while safety departments, such as police and fire, were given a 5 percent targeted reduction.
Public Hearings on the documents began on May 26 and were continued again on June 2 and 9. Another public hearing on the topic is on the agenda for the June 16 meeting. E-comments can be submitted on the city’s agendas & minutes page at redondo.legistar.com/aspx; instructions can be found at bit.ly/2XC1e9S.
The Log will cover the topic in greater detail in the following issue.
