City eyes ways to cut costs

Newport Beach is considering cost-cutting measures to plug a $5.8-million budget gap that include cutting city employee hours and shutting down some city services for the week of Christmas.

One money-saving idea the city is considering is a so-called “paycheck work furlough” program, where city employees could leave work a few hours early one day each pay period, Newport Beach City Manager Dave Kiff said.

“There are 80 hours per pay period — so say every other Friday, folks could go home at 3 p.m. instead of 5 p.m.,” Kiff said. “Those two hours would be unpaid, and they could not take [paid leave] for those two hours.”

The short work furloughs would be subject to talks with the city’s employee unions if the city decides to move forward with the idea.

On Tuesday, the Newport Beach City Council will consider a plan to shut down City Hall and other city facilities from Dec. 24 through Jan. 1. City employees would have a choice to use their paid time off or take unpaid leave during that week.

The plan would allow the city to save money on utilities and maintenance, as well as reduce the city’s liability for paid employee absences for by about $378,000, according to a staff report on the matter.

If the council approves the holiday plan, it would still be subject to discussions with the city employee unions.

Emergency responders, including police and firefighters would not be included in the weeklong city holiday.

In October, the council approved a program to offer early retirement incentives for some city employees.

The early retirement program could save the city as much as $1.24 million a year in the first year, according to preliminary estimates.

Newport Beach experienced an 18% decline in sales tax revenues in the last fiscal year, according to a city report.

The downward trend has continued into the current fiscal year — with sales tax revenues slumping an additional 8.4% over the previous year.

Hotel occupancy taxes are down 23% for the year, according to the report. Property tax revenues have remained stagnant.

Those numbers account for a $5.8-million budget gap in this year’s city budget.