The San Diego City Council unanimously backed Mayor Jerry Sanders’ 2010 budget proposal Tuesday, calling for 6 percent cuts in employee wages and reductions to their benefits and compensation. The fiscal plan, which Sanders unveiled Monday at City Hall and reinforced during a last-minute appearance at the Ocean Beach Branch Library on Tuesday, is expected to close half of an estimated $60 million budget gap with $30 million worth of concessions from the city’s five labor groups. The council voted 8-0 in favor of the plan during labor negotiation hearings Tuesday. While keeping libraries and city recreation centers open, the mayor’s budget plan keeps about 150 positions vacant but does not include layoffs. “This is the year to protect city services and employees,” Sanders said. He said a 6 percent across-the-board reduction was “fair” to all employees. Councilmember Kevin Faulconer said the budget proposal acknowledges the need for “some serious restructuring” to employee salaries and benefits. “We need to make the tough decisions just like they’re making in the private sector,” Faulconer said. The Deputy City Attorney’s Association, white-collar workers represented by the Municipal Employees Association and the International Association of Firefighters Local 145 came to an agreement with the mayor’s office to negotiate details of the 6 percent reduction. The San Diego Police Officers Association and blue-collar workers represented by American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees (AFSCME) Local 127 did not reach agreement with the mayor’s office, forcing the City Council to impose the cuts to employees’ pay and benefits during Tuesday’s session. Reductions result in the loss of about $200 per pay period for some labor and skilled-trade employees, according to Joan Raymond, AFSCME Local 127. The union represents about 1,990 of the city’s lowest-paid employees, she said. Raymond proposed cutting some of the “fat” and not the “muscle” of city operations. “If it’s money they’re looking for, we can find millions and millions without punishing our families,” Raymond said. Brian Marvel, president of the San Diego Police Officers Association, said the mayor’s reduction to healthcare compensation would affect some officers more than others and that it threatens the department’s ability to recruit officers. “If the mayor’s proposal is imposed on us, our department will not be able to compete for qualified officers in this [job] market,” Marvel told City Council on Tuesday. The mayor’s proposal suggests bridging the other half of the $60 million deficit, in part, by dipping into about $17 million worth of hotel room tax reserves as a “one- time” source of funds to help pay for a new fire-alert system, community development plan updates and unfinished projects slated for completion in the 2010 fiscal year. City Council, however, will have to approve the use of tourism tax dollars for ongoing operations. The city also has about $500 million to $700 million in deferred maintenance and capital projects. City officials blame the budget gap on dwindling sales and tourism-tax revenue the last few years, according to Chief Financial Officer Mary Lewis. Lewis added, however, that unfunded pension obligations could leave the city accountable for an estimated $200 million payment in fiscal year 2011. That alone would “unbalance us,” she said, creating a larger deficit in 2011. Unfunded pension liability is estimated at about $1.3 billion, to be paid over the next 19 years, Lewis said. An unfunded retiree healthcare deficit looms at about $1.25 billion. Budget meetings Sanders and District 1 Councilmember Sherri Lightner will host a budget town hall meeting Thursday, April 16 from 6 to 7 p.m. at University City High School, 6949 Genessee Ave. District 2 Councilmember Kevin Faulconer will also join Sanders in a community budget town hall meeting Monday, April 20 from 6 to 7 p.m. at the Ocean Beach Recreation Center, 4726 Santa Monica Ave.