Sunny Isles Beach commissioners have instructed city staff to take a hard look at  recreational and cultural programs as the city tightens its belt in the face of lower anticipated tax receipts.

At a budget workshop June 30, commissioners pored over the proposed $1.8 million budget of the Cultural and Human Services Department looking for potential savings. 

Susan Simpson, director of cultural and human services, was asked to look for ways to trim her budget by $250,000.

Comparisons with the current year budget are tricky because the 2010 budget envisions pulling Ocean Rescue into its own cost center, still under CHS. But the department is on pace to spend $1.606 million this fiscal year. For the year beginning Oct. 1, the initial request is $1.157 million for Ocean Rescue and $709,899 for other functions.  

Mayor Norman Edelcup suggested the city simply "can't afford" to spend an additional $250,000 in this area. 

Commissioner Roslyn Brezin zeroed in on the city's Golden Era film program as not being cost effective. A spreadsheet analysis presented by CHS Director Susan Simpson shows the monthly bingo and Golden Era movie programs as being among the least attended events. Each of those programs averages less than 50 participants per performance. The average performance costs the city about $290 for bingo and $1,000 for the movies.

However the higher cost items are the department's musical programs. The Sunny Serenade, for example, has been budgeted at $65,000 and shows revenues of just $450. 

Other areas that face budget scrutiny include the three-day-a-week bus service to Mt. Sinai Medical Center and a proposed bus route to South Beach.

Simpson and City Manager Rick Conner agreed to go back into the budget with Edelcup's $250,000 number in mind but sought philosophic guidance on what programs to reduce or eliminate. 

Commissioners declined to play a role in targeting individual programs but agreed programs for children should have priority. 

The workshop was one of a series as the commission and city staff work toward a budget for the coming fiscal year. There will be no budget decision until later in the process.