Just 11 Glenwood residents showed up Tuesday afternoon at city hall to ask questions and voice concerns about the 2010 budget cuts the city faces due to more losses in Local Government Aid (LGA) from the state.

Glenwood's LGA for 2010 was reduced $134,000 at the end of 2009 by Governor Tim Pawlenty's unallotment following the 2009 legislative session. Earlier this year, the governor proposed reducing Glenwood's LGA another $142,000 in light of bad state revenue forecasts.

Those reductions have left the city commissioners with trying to balance the 2010 budget, which was balanced before the most recent LGA reduction proposal. The 2010 city budget was balanced with cuts in every city department as well as an employee wage freeze.

On Tuesday, the city wanted to hear from residents any ideas they had before making more sweeping cuts to balance this year's budget.

"Before we deal with the budget more formally, we wanted to open discussion up to the public for comments and questions," Glenwood Mayor John R. Stone said before opening the public hearing at 3 p.m.

City resident Dave Johnson asked what the proposed percentage cut (about 25 percent) to the police department would involve.

Glenwood City Administrator Dave Iverson pointed out that there had been cuts in the department already, and the only way to make that kind of percentage reduction to "eliminate manpower."

Iverson and Stone said that the city staff has currently proposed cutting each department across the board according to the amount of the general fund budget that the department represents. The police department represents 24.3 percent of the overall budget, so according to the proposal, it would need to be reduced by that much.

"We just can't make cuts without getting into manpower," Iverson said. "We're getting to the point that it's coming down to the services (the city provides) now."

Johnson also asked if the city had considered transferring some work to private contracts for such things as street work and snow plowing.

Stone explained that the city has done that, most recently with the snow plowing at the city airport. "We stopped doing it because we felt we could do it better and more efficiently ourselves," Stone explained.

City Commissioner Bill Ogdahl and Stone did say that the city is currently negotiating the dispatch contract with Pope County. It has moved the city police department back to city hall. That move, along with the agreement between the city and the county could lead to the savings the city needs in the police department.

"Right now, we just can't say what we will save," Stone said, because there is no formal agreement yet.

Ogdahl said the city has made a proposal and now the county has to decide to accept or reject that latest proposal.

The commissioners and Iverson told the group that no one wants to cut employees. The city has eliminated summer mowing positions and cut a cleaning position at city hall and Stone said that if the city decided to cut from the police department manpower it would come in eliminating part-time officers first.

"If we make the decision to give up 24-7 police coverage in the city, the first place we would cut is at the part-time level," Stone explained. If the city does cut personnel out of the police department, it would likely not be able have a police officer on duty 24 hours per day, seven days per week.

"My thought is that LGA is just not going to come back," Iverson said. "We've been cut $470,000 in the past two-and-a-half years and that is very serious."

Commissioners were also asked what it would mean in contribution reductions to things like Waterama or the chamber. Stone said the city doesn't really provide a check to Waterama, but it does provide police services and portable bathrooms for the annual celebration at a cost to the city.

Iverson added that everything is on the table at this point as far as cuts are concerned. "Yet every cut comes with a cause and effect.

Another resident asked if the city had considered asking the city workers to take a pay cut, rather than just a wage freeze or a reduction in hours. A pay cut, he said, would be better than eliminating a job and putting someone on unemployment.

Iverson said he hadn't really looked at asking employees to take a pay cut, but again reiterated that "everything is on the table."

Stone said the employees have already stepped forward and agreed to a wage freeze and city department heads worked hard to make cuts in each department. "That wage freeze affects them for the rest of their career because it affects benefits and retirement," Stone said. "We are extremely appreciative of their commitment to the city for that," he added.

The resident then reiterated that he too didn't want to see anybody laid off. "Just ask them to take a pay cut temporarily until the economy comes back. It would be much better than being like me and losing your job. It would be a temporary sacrifice."

There was also discussion about seeking volunteers to do city work so that city services could be continued. Volunteers, according to Iverson, can work in some areas, but you have to make sure people show up and do what they're volunteering to do.

He did say that civic organizations like Rotary and the Lions have helped with funding things like lifeguards at the city beach, a service the city may no longer provide. There was discussion about eliminating all city lifeguards and posting a sign that states no lifeguards are on duty. It would likely reduce our liability to have no lifeguards, Iverson said.

Stone also pointed out that the Garden Club helps the city maintain areas in town so city employees don't have to do that work.

Resident Bob Robards told the commission that he believed the residents are "very lucky" that the city works so efficiently. He said the city has done a very good job, despite deteriorating water and sewer lines and said adding volunteers would be great, but "we need these certified people to do this things." He added that volunteers are great, but the city would be "darn lucky" if they didn't have liability problems with volunteers.

Resident Cody Rogahn also said he was impressed and thankful for the job the city and staff is doing in light of some very serious cuts. He pointed out that he was very disappointed that legislators have gotten more calls on the proposed Vikings stadium than on LGA cuts. "That's just ridiculous," he said.