Sullivan vetoes funds for arts, libraries

He let stand about $600,000 in additions included in a compromise package worked out earlier by Assembly members Patrick Flynn and Jennifer Johnston, and another amendment passed Tuesday that restores People Mover bus service next spring on two holidays -- Martin Luther King Jr. Day and Presidents Day -- at a combined cost of about $75,000.

The final budget means the elimination of nearly 200 city jobs. Between 55 and 60 of those are currently filled, Sullivan said, and employees will be laid off in coming weeks.

Sullivan announced the vetoes at an afternoon press conference, targeting a $124,330 appropriation for the additional grants and $50,000 for libraries that would have added hours of operation for branch libraries in Girdwood and Eagle River.

Sullivan said both services already had gotten extra funding in the compromise worked out with Flynn and Johnston, which added $150,000 for the grants and $75,000 for library materials. Flynn earlier said most of that library money will be used to buy books.

The Assembly needs the votes of eight of its 11 members to override vetoes. The $50,000 appropriation for libraries might be restored if the eight members who voted to add it Tuesday stay behind the idea. The extra $124,000 for grants passed with a bare, six-vote majority.

The Assembly sponsors of those amendments, Sheila Selkregg and Matt Claman, said the changes added small amounts of money that could make big differences in the community.

"It's a shame to engage in this kind of struggle," Selkregg said. "I really worry about our capacity to be a wonderful, vibrant city. I don't see that vision anywhere in this budget. What he's demonstrating is he wants to do it his way."

Claman said libraries, arts and bus service got the most support from citizens in three public hearings. The grants to arts and cultural groups make up a small part of their overall budget, but helps them get bigger donations because it shows city support, he said.

"It's a very, very small price to pay in terms of the whole budget, and the benefit is huge," he said.

The original spending plan Sullivan sent to the Assembly in early October totaled about $420.6 million. After the Assembly's amendments, the budget swelled slightly to about $421.4 million. Sullivan's vetoes take the final number to $421,260,249 -- a reduction from the Assembly approved package of .04 percent.

Small numbers in a big budget, Sullivan acknowledged, but he described the additions he vetoed as "piling on."

"Both those categories did get significant increases (in the compromise budget), but we don't agree with adding on even more than we had agreed to," he said.

Sullivan said he was pleased, however, to see the Assembly add back money for bus service on the two holidays. Those cuts were originally made earlier this year as the Assembly wrestled with this year's budget deficit, and Sullivan said he hadn't added the money back into his budget because he didn't think the Assembly was interested in restoring the holiday service.

MORE CUTS LIKELY IN 2011

Sullivan argues that long-term labor contracts approved by the Assembly late last year will add millions in payroll costs each of the next five years. He plans to address that by making big cuts in his first two budgets as mayor, and said again Friday that the budget for 2011 likely will see even deeper cuts than the one just passed.

"We have to remember that everything added this year likely will mean additional cuts next year," Sullivan said. "At some point you just have to draw a line in the sand and say, 'That's a good, balanced, fair budget. Anything beyond this we just really aren't going to accept.' "

Most city unions earlier this year gave up already-approved 3 percent wage increases to help the Assembly and Claman, then acting mayor, close a $17 million deficit, in return for one-year contract extensions. Police and firefighters, for example, said their concessions respectively saved the city $900,000 and $1 million this year, and union leaders have said Sullivan rejected additional savings they've offered.

Leaders of the Anchorage Municipal Employees Association, responding to news reports this week that Sullivan is still interested in talking with unions about shifting most city workers to a shorter, 37.5 hour workweek to save money, said they want to be involved in cost-saving discussions, although they are dubious about Sullivan's revenue projections. They noted that stock markets and the national economy are recovering, and that state officials say they expect oil prices to stabilize.

"City employees want to help with the city's alleged financial problems," AMEA President Mark McKee said in an e-mailed statement. "At this point, we have not been involved in serious discussions with the mayor about the alleged budget problems since earlier this summer. We are learning about the mayor's proposals in the news."

Sullivan needs the agreement of unions to implement the shorter workweek, which carries a 6.25 percent pay cut. The AMEA, the biggest city union, rejected the idea in September.

On Wednesday, the mayor said he hasn't talked to unions about the idea since then, but now that the budget is out of the way, he expects to revisit the workweek and other ideas.

"We really are in the next few weeks (going to) start sitting down and re-engaging them," he said. "There's no intent on our part to try and pressure them or anything. They say they've had lots of ideas come forward, and some of them employee relations is working on."