Margate faces a $4.4 million deficit in the next fiscal year, City Manager Frank Porcella told about a dozen residents at a recent budget workshop at the Northwest Focal Point Senior Center.
Porcella said a freeze in salaries and a reduction in insurance premiums will make up about half of that, but layoffs are a possibility if the remaining $2.4 million cannot be made up elsewhere. He added that the city is considering reducing bus service and may have to cut "nonessential" services.
"I know that people who depend on the bus service to get to work might consider it an essential service, but the truth is that only a small percentage of residents actually rely on it," he said.
Porcella said nine positions have been eliminated in addition to the 49 eliminated last year, and layoffs of police and fire employees remain a possibility.
Although he said he doesn't expect an increase in taxes, the commission has the authority to raise the current millage rate because lower property evaluations in the city would result in the same amount of money coming to the city.
Scott Yardley, a longtime Margate resident and a candidate for the state House, questioned what he calls the long-term future of the Community Redevelopment Agency.
"I have not seen one tangible thing that the CRA has done," Yardley said.
Porcella admitted that the CRA, which now owns 44 acres along State Road 7, is the landlord of a lot of empty stores. But he said the city will benefit from the investment when the economy turns around.
"We are aggressively trying to promote that property," Porcella said.
A public workshop on Porcella's proposed budget is set for Aug. 25, and the first reading of the resolution will take place Sept. 8.
Michael Schmieman can be reached at mschmieman@tribune.com.