Bend’s budget cuts could foul up the city’s urban growth boundary expansion process, since the city planning commission relies on the Community Development Department’s staff to help with a laundry list of routine matters.

But those staff resources are being scaled back, and the planning commission has only a few thousand dollars in its own budget, money that’s used to pay for things like meals and taking minutes, planning commission member Jodie Barram said.

City officials are looking at cuts to make up for plummeting planning and development fees. The city needs to replace $1.7 million in losses in planning and engineering. Those divisions already announced layoffs of 10 people and have cut a combined $750,000 from other parts of their budgets.

The citywide budget adjustments also mean that, unless officials can find a way to restore funding in the next year, the city’s police and fire departments may start falling behind in buying new vehicles and equipment. In turn, police and fire officials have said, that could mean slightly slower response times and longer investigations in a few years.

Revenues for the planning division, which reviews subdivision and land use plans, are down $2.7 million since July 1, a 60 percent decrease over what officials budgeted for six months ago. Engineering division revenues have dropped 30 percent and building revenues have dipped 15 percent as well, according to city documents.

The planning commission is in the midst of a series of work sessions reviewing all aspects of the UGB, which will define how the city limits will expand in the next 20 years.

“We’re concerned that funding cuts will impact the public process of the urban growth boundary expansion,” Barram told the City Council at a meeting Wednesday night. “It would likely extend (the process) longer than the community would like.”

And without staff time now, Barram said, details in the UGB expansion could be inadvertently overlooked. Officials are hoping to finalize the expansion this summer.

“If we do this right … it will greatly increase the longevity of the decision being made throughout this process,” said Barram.

“A thorough process also reduces the likelihood of appeals and litigation.”

The City Council on Wednesday unanimously approved budget adjustments that will pull $1.5 million from the city’s general fund to help make up for large shortfalls in the city’s planning and building division.

Though she voted in favor of the budget changes, Councilor Chris Telfer again expressed concerns about the shrinking reserves in the city’s coffers. At the beginning of the fiscal year, which started July 1, those were at about $8.5 million, Telfer said. The latest changes mean they will drop to less than $5.5 million, more than $1 million less than what they were expected to be by this summer.

That doesn’t include millions of dollars the city still has in separate reserves for other departments like water, sewer, streets and catastrophic events, Finance Director Sonia Andrews said.

In the coming weeks, officials will begin reviewing how the city’s checkbook looks for the second half of 2008 and into 2009.