Mothballing Memorial Auditorium and shutting down Outdoor Chattanooga could mean losing hundreds of thousands of dollars, maybe even millions, city officials said Wednesday.
"There are a lot of budgetary items that are easy marks," Mayor Ron Littlefield said. "They're basically cheap shots ... But there's a price to be paid."
Council members made several proposals this week to reduce a proposed property tax increase of 64 cents per $100 of assessed value. The hike is intended to make up a shortfall in tax collection revenue and increasing costs.
Besides shuttering Memorial Auditorium and cutting Outdoor Chattanooga, other ideas included going to an every-other-day cleaning schedule for city buildings and selling The Chattanoogan hotel.
But those could have lasting effects if implemented, Mr. Littlefield said Wednesday.
"Anywhere you cut, somebody's going to get hurt," he said. "The main thing is you don't hurt this community or the future of this community."
Councilwoman Deborah Scott said she doesn't like to consider cutting the programs, but it may be necessary. The mayor has proposed a $198.6 million budget and she is looking at how it can be trimmed back down to $167 million, close to the city's budget for the 2009-2010 fiscal year.
"It's hard to cut back $32 million," she said. "That's not a shave."
The Summit of Softball complex makes money, she said, but it does not mean that paid city workers should operate it and maintain it. Outdoor Chattanooga could be privatized and the costs associated with the events could go to someone else, she said.
CITY REACTION
Parks and Recreation Director Larry Zehnder said he understood the council wanting to pick the "low-hanging fruit" associated with some of the Parks and Recreation programs. But he also said he thinks it is shortsighted to just go after programs that don't make money on paper for the city.
Outdoor Chattanooga organizes the Head of the Hooch event that brought in more than 6,000 rowers and $4 million to the city in economic impact last year, he said. The program also is organizing the River Rocks festival in October, a new 10-day event that could bring in tens of thousands of people to Chattanooga, he said.
"How do you put a value on that?" Mr. Zehnder asked. "You just don't go through the budget and say, 'We'll cut this out and that out.'"
Missy Crutchfield, administrator for the Department of Arts, Education & Culture, said it is natural to look at closing facilities when trying to find budget cuts. She said her department took over Memorial Auditorium a few years ago, helped bring it back to life, then saw its revenues go down because of the recession.
But the facility is on an upswing, she said. In the last few months, there were six shows at the facility, from Widespread Panic to Heart to Alice in Chains, she noted.
If the Memorial Auditorium closes, it means one less venue for Chattanooga, cutting down the city's ability to host some acts. People come to the shows, spend money out at local restaurants and, in some cases, stay in local hotels, she said.
"There's a lot of economic impact that's not generated on our balance sheet," Ms. Crutchfield said.
COMMON-SENSE CUTS
Councilwoman Pam Ladd said the cuts she proposed are "common sense" and gives a message to the public that the council means business. She said she doesn't see how boarding up Memorial Auditorium would hurt the city when it's losing revenue and costs more than it makes. She said she went there herself just a few weeks ago to see "Riverdance" and saw a lot of empty seats.
And she doesn't like hearing the city wouldn't save substantial money on even the small things, she said.
"I'm weary of that," she said. "Those little things add up."