The city of Bellevue voted to lay off its city administrator and terminate the position last week, citing economic hardship and reduced revenues.
The City Council discussed eliminating the position and taking City Administrator Tom Blanchard off of its payroll during an executive session on Thursday, Feb. 10. The council voted to remove the position—and Blanchard—shortly after.
"It was the best way to save the taxpayers of the city the most money," Mayor Chris Koch said in an interview.
Bellevue City Clerk Dee Barton said eliminating the administrator job provided the city with a "reasonable savings."
The part-time position comprised 19 hours of work per week. Barton said the annual cost of the position was $38,600, meaning the city will save approximately $24,125 for the remainder of this fiscal year. The city's general fund expenditures total a little over $1.1 million for 2011.
Koch said budget cuts were necessary because revenues have fallen short of projections for 2011. As a result, the council has continually been scouring the budget for slack.
"For quite some time, the city has been looking at ways to trim the budget," Koch said. "We look at the figures every council meeting, and I go over the budgets with department heads during our regular meetings as well."
Barton said the recession is having an impact on Bellevue, causing the need for the city to cut back on services as revenues fall short of expectations.
"It's just basic economic downturn," she said. "The state is looking at a large budget deficit, and whatever happens to the state trickles down to the cities."
Koch said the city is "constantly" reviewing other cuts, though no specific cuts are anticipated.
"The council is always looking at ways to save money," he said.
Barton said Blanchard's main responsibilities were working directly with the mayor and the City Council, and his role will be filled by existing staff.
"Any time you downsize, everybody's going to fill in," she said.
Bellevue employees are already stretched due to March 2009 hour cuts in all departments. City offices are closed on Mondays, and city employees are working 32-hour workweeks due to budget constraints.
Koch said the elimination of the administrator position might mean more hours for remaining employees.
"With the extra work we are asking of our staff, we might have to bring them up in hours," he said. "That will be a discussion item for a later agenda."
Koch said there were no definite plans to reinstate the position.
"The position will be gone until there is enough revenue coming into the city to bring it back," he said.
Barton agreed, but said that even if there is revenue for the position, restoring it would depend entirely on the needs of the community and is not a sure thing.
Blanchard had served the city for six years and previously served as a Blaine County commissioner. According to city staff, Blanchard was out of town yesterday and unavailable for comment. His position was eliminated effective Feb. 11.
Katherine Wutz: kwutz@mtexpress.com
Tom Blanchard
