In the spirit of the season, Tulsa city councilors have been busy jotting down their wish list to send to Mayor Dewey Bartlett before the annual budget process really kicks into gear at the start of the new year.
Formally, it’s called the City Council’s fiscal year 2011-12 compendium of needs, and councilors have already compiled their rough draft.
When they resume meeting after the holidays, it will be tweaked, voted on and sent along to the administration.
Before any other priorities are pursued, however, councilors agreed that the four unpaid furlough days that nonsworn city employees are still taking must be eliminated.
“They are still sucking air on four days a year, and it’s not fair to them,” Councilor Rick Westcott said during a recent council meeting. “We must take care of our current employees.”
The council’s wish list is divided into nine categories:
Public safety: Councilors want the city to focus on boosting the city’s police and fire manpower in the wake of the past year’s budget cuts.
Tulsa’s police force has dropped from 807 officers a year ago to 729, while the number of city firefighters has decreased from 676 last year to 631, city officials said.
The council also wants to implement public safety organizational efficiencies and enhance funding for the police and fire departments.
This includes looking at the organization of local emergency medical services and the relationship between the Fire Department
and EMSA, establishing a cost-recovery system for fire response to vehicle accidents, and fully implementing the electronic citation program and a paperless municipal court system.
Economic vitality: Spurring development along the Arkansas River by creating a West Bank tax increment financing district is listed as a council priority.
Councilors also said they want to focus on promoting the city’s “shop local” campaign through the ShopTulsa.org website and improving the Convention Visitors Bureau, which has recently come under fire for its performance.
Neighborhood vitality: Moving forward with the PlaniTulsa implementation is on the council’s list. This effort includes hiring a city planning director and updating the zoning code.
After the start of the year, councilors will consider a $400,000 funding request from the mayor to search for and pay a new planning director and hire an outside firm to update the zoning code.
Enhancing code enforcement efforts and the city’s capacity to address dilapidated structures, as well as promoting and assisting neighborhood associations, are also council priorities.
Environment: Implementing a uniform, citywide refuse collection and recycling system is listed as a priority for councilors, who also say that giving customers choices and preserving the existing level of service that most citizens have are important.
Tulsa’s trash board is in the process of evaluating possible service changes that would be implemented by the summer of 2012, due to the expiration of the long-standing hauling contract.
Most of the city has twice-a-week collection, while a small section has once-a-week pickup. Also, the city is currently subsidizing residential rates.
Goals cited by the trash board are having one level of service across the city, ending the subsidy and encouraging more recycling.
The service decisions will be made by the board, the administration and the City Council.
Councilors also cited planting more trees as a priority. The city’s tree population is still rebounding from the 2007 ice storm.
Human investment: While the city does not provide funding for or have direct control over local educational institutions, councilors say they want to support local education efforts at all levels, from early childhood centers, to public schools to universities.
Transportation: Improving the city’s bus service, while examining alternatives such as light rail and jitneys are on the council’s list.
One of the city’s major financial hurdles will be to come up with $2 million just to maintain Tulsa Transit’s current level of service next fiscal year.
During the budget cuts of the past year, the transit agency used federal grant money to avoid severely curtailing the bus service when its city funding was slashed. But that city money will have to be restored in the next budget if the service level is to continue.
Also, councilors say discussions should begin on the possible fiscal year 2013-14 voter renewal of the Fix Our Streets program.
The first streets package, totaling $451.6 million and approved by voters in 2008, will begin its third wave of projects after the new year. City officials have always maintained that it would have to be renewed by voters to continue the street repair efforts across Tulsa.
Continuing the city’s push to synchronize more traffic lights is also listed as a priority by councilors.
Grant money for the equipment is readily available, but the city needs to hire more engineers to do the necessary timing plans.
Recreation and culture: Councilors want to focus on the city’s parks, including creating more splash pads and reopening the pools and recreation centers that have been closed.
The new public-private partnership taking over the operations of the Tulsa Zoo also needs to be closely monitored, they said.
Organizational processes: Implementing an automated time and attendance system for city employees is on the council’s list.
The city’s payroll process, which costs roughly $3 million a year, is spread across about 30 services and has 35 full-time employees who perform the task by hand, resulting in a host of errors ranging from employee payment to vacation time, officials have said.
One of the recommendations made by a recent efficiency study is to switch to an automated system.
Former Mayor Kathy Taylor tried to get funding for such a system, estimated to cost $1.2 million, but was turned down by the council at the time.
Also, councilors said, they want to streamline the work of the city’s dozens of authorities, boards and commissions.
Citizen engagement: Councilors also want to improve their own communication and constituent outreach.
This includes using more direct mail, including district newsletters and utility bill inserts, building district-specific Web pages, using more social media tools and reaching out more to neighborhood associations.
Also on the City Council’s compendium of needs
Fiscal Year 2011-12
Citizen engagement: Improving council constituent outreach efforts.
Neighborhood vitality: Proceeding with the PlaniTulsa comprehensive plan.
Human investment: Encouraging local education efforts.
Organizational processes: Implementing an automated payroll system for city employees.
Brian Barber 581-8322
brian.barber@tulsaworld.com