The City Council was again poised to address the city’s estimated $43 million budget deficit Wednesday during a special council session in the wake of what city budget analysts are calling a period of “cyclical economic decline.” Results of the session were not available at press time. As city officials try to wrap their collective heads around the city’s multi-million-dollar shortfall, beach communities face reductions such as the shuttering of libraries, rotating fire and rescue companies and reorganization of lifeguard positions to stave off cuts to “core” lifesaving services. Two of the seven branch libraries on the chopping block — Ocean Beach Library and University Community Library in University City — had been slated for improvements in recent years. Now they’re on a different list. But other services are also at stake, according to budget experts. Fire and Rescue Department officials said Fire Station 21 in Pacific Beach could share fire companies with other stations on a rotating basis to save about $3.2 million, but such a move would result in an increased emergency response time, according to department spokesperson Maurice Luque. The high vantage point provided by the new lifeguard tower at the La Jolla Children’s Pool would allow one lifeguard to replace three because one lifeguard can see more beach area from above, Luque said. Nonessential programs like the Junior Lifeguard Program would suffer, he said. “If we’re going to have to cut things, or propose cutting things, let’s take a look at things that aren’t part of our core mission. Is the Junior Lifeguard part of our core mission of saving people and keeping people safe on the beach? No,” Luque said. The city’s independent budget analyst (IBA) recommended in a report released Nov. 17 that the city raise the Junior Lifeguard fee of $400 per student to pay for staffing. The IBA offered an across-the-board user fee to help solve this year’s budget shortfall. The city’s deficit could balloon another $44 million in 2010 and again by $68 million the year after that, the IBA report states. The IBA also wants the city put off the proposed library and recreation center cuts until a “comprehensive plan” comes before the City Council by February. It states that changes to fire department recruitment and schedule rotation should be temporary solutions, as originally proposed by the city’s administration. The IBA report calls out the mayor’s five-year budget outlook, which assumes a continued fire department service reduction. “We’ve been doing research and looking at what the available options are, including other potential resource options — if the council so desires — in lieu of service reductions,” said Tom Haynes with the city’s IBA department. According to the IBA report, other potential options include cutting off Mission Bay improvements as a “one-time” option. In light of the recent passage of Proposition C, which aims to keep some Mission Bay Park revenue for Mission Bay projects. the IBA doesn’t recommend following through with the one-time option. Prop C legislation won’t take effect until July 2009, according to the report.