Stella Chao, Director of Seattle's Department of Neighborhoods sent a letter detailing the budget cutbacks impacts on her department. In her detailed and comprehensive list that follows she points out that one full time Customer Service Representative position will be cut as a result of the closure of the West Seattle Neighborhood Payment and Information Services office. The proposed reductions (subject to a City Council review and vote Nov. 22) result in a 16% cut for the Department of Neighborhoods programs and services and would mean the loss of ten jobs.

Stella Chao's letter:

Mayor McGinn's Proposed 2011-2012 City Budget was presented today (Sep 27) to the Community at noon, and to City Council at 2pm. While the Mayor will not be discussing all of the specifics of the proposed budget, I want to share information as it relates to Seattle Department of Neighborhoods (DON).

The Proposed 2011-2012 City Budget attempts to protect core services and services that support the City’s most vulnerable populations. It also seeks to avoid negative impacts on City employees to the extent possible. Unfortunately, due to the severe financial constraints brought on by the economic downturn, the abrogation (elimination) of some positions, reduction of some full-time positions; and in other departments, reallocation of other positions to a lower paying job title were unavoidable.

To help minimize the impacts on core services and staffing cuts in DON, we employed the following strategies:
1) Align with DON's mission, vision, and values, and the Mayor's priorities
2) Align with legislated departmental responsibilities
3) Protect services, jobs, and programs.

Nevertheless, the Mayor’s 2011-12 Proposed Budget includes a reduction from the 2010 budget of $2.84 million ($2.14 million in the DON General Fund and $700,000 in the Neighborhood Matching Fund). This includes the cut of 10 positions, of which 1 is vacant and 9 are filled, and a reduction on 1 position which is filled. As a result of the reduction in staffing (14% reduction), there will be significant impacts on DON programs and services.

The final budget is determined by City Council with their final vote on Monday, November 22, 2010.

Below is a summary of the direct impacts on DON.

DON has two separate budget categories – one for Neighborhood Matching Fund, and another for the rest of the department (General Fund).

The Neighborhood Matching Fund is taking a 22% cut. No positions are abrogated. We are very sensitive to the fact that all NMF cuts in 2009 were taken in positions: 2.5 positions were abrogated and 4 additional Temporary positions were lost last year. Therefore, this year the focus of the cuts is in operations and actual award dollars. Since last year’s cuts also reduced the operations budget, this year’s additional operations reductions will be very difficult.

NEIGHBORHOOD MATCHING FUND
The Department’s proposed General Fund budget is cut 18.2% from the 2010 Adopted Budget levels. However, this includes the Customer Service Bureau (CSB), Office for Education (OFE), and the Seattle Youth Violence Prevention Initiative (SYVPI), which are administratively in DON but are separate City agencies under separate leadership. CSB was moved from DON to the Department of Finance and Services at mid-year. When these three agencies are removed from the overall DON budget, DON programs and services are taking a proposed 16% cut.

DON GENERAL FUND
Below are specifics on the reductions for DON programs only. For details of the other three offices, please refer to the City Budget Office website.
• All Department of Neighborhoods management-level staff remain at 2008 salary levels. (Cost of Living increases were offered for cuts in 2009 and 2010 in addition to furloughs for all staff).
• Although the City Council has directed DON to lead the City’s Food Systems Policy work, the Manager 2 position (previously overseeing the Matching Fund and P-Patch programs) that was cut in 2010 and reallocated to a Strategic Advisor 2 for this purpose was not filled in 2010. Some funds were eliminated at mid-year, and the position is totally eliminated in this budget proposal.
• The Immigrant and Refugee Initiative is proposed to be totally eliminated from our budget, and limited funds to oversee the initiative will be incorporated into the Office of Civil Rights. The Strategic Advisor 1 position is cut as a result.
• As you already know, at mid-year the Seattle Youth Commission funding was totally eliminated, the position cut, and the work was transferred to the Mayor’s Office.
• The Historic Preservation program proposed cuts are large – in addition to eliminating all of the survey and inventory funds that provide the core of the program’s ongoing work to identify new properties and prepare documents to preserve historic properties, a Senior Community Development Specialist position is cut.

The largest impact in the DON proposed budget is to the District Coordinators and Neighborhood Service Centers.
• Six (6) non-payment Neighborhood Service Centers are proposed for closure. These are Greenwood, Fremont, Queen Anne, Downtown, Capitol Hill, and Beacon Hill.
• Additionally,one (1) Neighborhood Payment and Information Services site is proposed for closure – West Seattle.
• As a result of these closures, six (6) District Coordinator positions are proposed for cuts, of which one position is vacant and is currently filled in a temporary capacity.
• As result of the West Seattle NPIS closure, one full-time Customer Service representative position is being cut.

One IT position will be reduced by 10% in 2010 because CSB has moved out of DON, and because of the proposed closure of 7 Neighborhood Service Centers.

DON’s official Budget Pages will be available on the City Budget Office web pages.

Please note: the Budget pages were written and reviewed to meet deadlines, before all final decisions and corrections were made. Therefore, the information in this memo is more up- to-date, and the Budget Pages information will be updated and completed through the process in the next two months.

Seattle City Council will be conducting Budget Public Hearings to discuss the Mayor’s proposed budget. For more information, visit www.seattle.gov/council/budget.

This has been an extremely difficult and painful budget process, and will continue to be stressful and confusing. There will be much to discuss and work through for all of us.

Stella Chao
Director of the Seattle Department of Neighborhoods