By STEPHANIE FARLEY

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sfarley@gctelegram.com

It's a delicate balancing act for Garden City Police Chief James Hawkins between "holding the line" with his department's budget and still providing adequate service to the public.

At this point, for the 2009 budget year, Hawkins pictures better serving the public through adding a couple motorcycles to the police department's fleet, hopefully reducing some of the green he sees eaten up by rising fuel costs and also making officers more accessible to the public.

Currently, he's budgeted an additional $40,000 to $45,000 for increased fuel costs for 2009 to keep the fleet of 44 total vehicles -- including 23 marked patrol cars and two marked K-9 units -- running. He'd also like to see several vehicles and in-car computers replaced as part of the department's rotation program, and the department possibly making a move toward an electronic ticketing system.

But all that could change as Hawkins and other city department heads make their way through the first round of meetings this week looking ahead to the city's 2009 budget. This week's meetings included the police department, as well as the city's Public Utilities department -- representing about half of the city's 2008 budget of about $65 million -- and then meetings with department heads for Buffalo Dunes Golf Course, public works, cemetery, planning and community development, municipal court, city prosecutor, Lee Richardson Zoo and information technology.

Budget forms were released to department heads in early April to complete and return to Finance Director Melinda Hitz by April 30. Hitz and interim City Manager Matt Allen are conducting the meetings.

It's early in the 2009 budgeting process, Allen said, but this week's meetings answer questions like what department heads are looking at for their budgets, how that's different from last year, and what's the cost. The "heavy lifting," as Hitz puts it, for the budget doesn't come until late June or early July when city staff know the valuation and start dealing with the funding generated by property tax.

About two-thirds of the budget can be set without knowing valuation, Allen said, adding that funding is fairly predictable and can deal with anything from a state fee to electric purchase power. But then there are the variables, such as various programs and services provided for in departmental budgets.

"We really don't have a clue where we're going to end up," Allen said of roughly the last third of the budget.

Public Utilities Director Joel Mahnken is looking at about $27.6 million for the 2009 budget for electric, water and sewer divisions within the department -- roughly a $1.1 million increase from 2008's budget. Mahnken attributes the increase mainly to the about $1 million cost of moving a city substation currently at 11th and Campbell streets to another location. The project goes hand in hand with the city's voltage conversion, taking it from handling 4,160 volts to a 12,470-volt system.

Improved technology also is making up much of the police department's requests, with Hawkins considering an additional $26,000 for 2009 to replace in-car computers. A total of $51,000 is budgeted in the line item for new equipment.

"Modern equipment just doesn't stay modern for very long," he said.

Hawkins' 2009 budget is nearly $5.1 million, compared to his estimate of the department spending about $4.8 million this year.

The cost of an electronic ticketing system will be shared by the prosecutor's office, municipal court and the police department. Hawkins estimates the cost at more than $90,000 to buy the system outright, not through a lease-purchase program.

"We have a really big Christmas list," Hawkins said. "... just because we ask Santa Claus for something, doesn't mean we're going to get it."

City commissioners have "their responsibility too" of deciding what's feasible, he said.

The department's main focus is to serve the public, Hawkins said, and his job is to make sure it has the essentials to do that while, at the same time, stretching the budget to meet that need.

He said Monday morning was just the first round of talks, adding "there will be many more."

The commission is set to discuss budget strategies in late May and early June, review department requests in July and finalize the 2009 budget on July 22.