Jamestown pays 228 employees out of its general fund – 173 of which are required through contract terms either negotiated or imposed by the state’s Public Employee Relations Board.

Minimum staffing for four departments police, fire, public works and parks – totals 76 percent of city employees. Their salaries account for 88 percent, or $14.3 million, of the $16.3 million the city will spend on employee salaries in the proposed 2017 spending plan.

That is not to say employees are the reason for the $878,000 budget deficit in the city’s proposed 2017 budget. While these costs have been building over time, it is difficult to make a convincing case for cutting police officers in a city with a burgeoning drug problem or to further cut snow plowing in any city in the Northeast. Fewer bodies in the big four departments aren’t the answer to this budget problem. Finding a way to lessen the cost of those employees, or the benefits being paid, must be part of the answer.

Contracts for police officers and firefighters both expired at the end of 2015 while the AFSCME and CSEA contracts expire at the end of 2018. Any contract negotiation is contentious, particularly in New York state these days with the 2 percent tax cap. We don’t begin to know what the city can give employees in return for some lessening of costs – but a public dialogue about the future of salaries paid to city workers seems necessary. City residents who pay the highest total property tax bills in Chautauqua County deserve to know why salary and benefit totals escalate each year and why more progress isn’t being made in finding cost savings.

We note, too, that 24 percent of city employees are not covered by minimum staffing requirements. These include administrative positions, with 45 employees, and Jamestown Urban Renewal/Department of Development, with 10 workers. These 55 workers total 12 percent, or almost $2 million, of the total appropriated in the 2017 budget. Obviously, each and every position should be justified as budget discussions continue. Would it be less expensive to outsource some such work? Can some of those wages be cut across the board? Are there retirement incentives that can be offered?

That doesn’t mean that if an employee takes a retirement incentive that the position should be replaced. It means that it would need to be evaluated to determine if that position could be combined with another to save money. And, we must look at expenses associated with these positions, including city-owned vehicles.

Salaries and benefits, given the amount of the city budget they consume, have to be a focus of our community’s conversation during this budget process. Before Jamestown expects outside help to balance this budget, the city must show it is taking every measure possible to balance the budget on its own.