How will City services be affected by the proposed budget?
Planning and Building ServicesThe Community Development Department’s share of the $7.4 million budget adjustment is approximately $1 million. While some additional revenues were identified, their share was achieved mostly through expenditure cuts, including the elimination of nine staff positions valued at approximately $741,000. Although the decline in development activity has lessened the workload of Community Development staff, eliminating nine positions will have measurable impacts and will affect their ability to provide a consistent level of service. Some examples include:- Delays in processing special ordinance revision request;- Decreased efficiency in zoning enforcement;- Overall slowdown in development review applications; – Decreased staff support to the Neighborhood Improvement Task Force; and- Decreased support to Plan Santa Barbara and the ability to keep on schedule. Public Safety ServicesThe Fire Department’s allocated budget cut is approximately $908,000. A portion of
