Implementing a storm water fund and street light fund. Better utilizing employees between departments. Putting in motion sensors for lights. Reducing hours of service.

These were just a handful of final recommendations given by Albert Lea employees about how to save money in the city’s budget in expectation of local government aid cuts from the state.

The recommendations, written as a list divided into several categories, explore different ideas of how to generate revenue or cut costs in different areas within the city. The list has about 60 suggestions.

Mike Zelenak, human resources director, said the group of employees who formulated the list met five times to come up with their recommendations. The group included representatives from all levels in every department, except for department heads.

On Monday, the group met with Albert Lea City Manager Victoria Simonsen to present their final suggestions.

“I thought it was a well-thought-out list,” Zelenak said. “They really thought about the things they could do. They did some homework and called different cities and found other ideas.”

The following is an overview of the recommendations:

 To generate revenue, employees gave suggestions such as having the city take over more of the inspections that the state conducts, marketing City Arena for other events in the off season, charging more for programs and having Parks and Recreation Department staff run the concession stands at the arena and the pool.

They also suggested aggressively pursuing payments in lieu of taxes from tax-exempt entities, escrowing funds for development and contracting with one garbage service for the entire city and charging on the water bill. All residents would have automatic garbage pickup, which would keep the city clean and possibly reduce the need for longer Albert Lea Transfer Station hours.

 To cut costs for employees, suggestions included allowing employees to take unpaid leave rather than vacation, fostering use of volunteers and internships during hiring freezes and better utilizing employees between departments. They also included going to four, 10-hour days or alternative work schedules.

To cut costs of supplies, employee recommendations included consolidating supply purchasing to get better prices; consolidating the purchase of print materials such as letterhead, business cards and envelopes; installing hand dryers instead of using paper towels; and reducing the number of outside vendors the city uses.

A PDF of the budget ideas

 To cut costs of facilities, they recommended turning down the thermostats of the water heater in the City Hall building and adding on-demand heaters where needed. They also suggested getting motion sensors for lights, turning down heat at City Hall at night, having an energy audit conducted of all facilities and shortening warming house hours, among other ideas.

 To cut costs of services, employees recommended reducing hours of service, evaluating programs to see if they are still cost-effective and getting new bids for services annually where feasible.

 To cut costs of parks, they suggested reducing fertilizing where feasible, implementing an adopt-a-park program, leaving the grass longer in some areas that are less visible to the public and stop the mowing or else charge for mowing non-city areas such as East Main Street and Port Authority properties.

In a general category, employee recommendations included reducing consultants; educating the public about the services the city provides; eliminating or reducing the hours of the fountains on Fountain Lake; eliminating the city’s discretionary funds; and reducing the frequency of actions such as street sweeping, tree trimming, sewer maintenance and grass cutting.

Albert Lea faces a cut up to as large as $500,000 in local government aid to the city in 2009 and up to $1 million in 2010. The cuts come on the heels of an about $400,000 cut in December of 2008.