She points to bone-dry reserves and says it's time to set money aside for long-deferred maintenance and the replacement of aging assets.

She wants employee wages that make sense for a city in the San Joaquin Valley -- in part because that's fair to taxpayers, in part because that's the only way to regain the confidence of credit-rating agencies.

Swearengin and Scott plan to hold a workshop on the policy at the March 22 City Council meeting, then return a week later and ask the council to adopt the document as City Hall's official stance.

It's unclear when hearings on next year's budget will begin, but in recent years they've kicked off in May.

Pointing to a copy of the plan -- the "Fiscal Sustainability Policy" -- at Monday's editorial board meeting, Scott said, "There's no reason this won't work -- unless we don't get the cooperation we need."

That's always the big question with city budgets: Who yields? Who wins?

Jacky Parks, president of the police officers union, and Kirk Wanless, president of the firefighters union, held a joint news conference late Monday afternoon to say their members will listen to the administration but make no promises.

Almost all general-fund money spent on compensation goes to public-safety employees. Parks and Wanless held the news conference because they know their unions are the administration's main target.

"We need to have a conversation with Mark Scott," Parks said. "We want to see what's in that budget. What are the old projects? What are the new projects?"

Parks said that last comment was a reference to the police auditor, a position defunded this year. The police union views the police auditor as unnecessary in tough budget times.

Echoing a sentiment made by Parks, Wanless said he was surprised that Swearengin and Scott publicly unveiled their plan before giving him a hint of its content.

"If we make another deal, do we get asked again next year?" Wanless said. "When does it stop?"

Wanless said he wonders if a budget crisis is "spin" being used by Swearengin and Scott for political reasons.

Parks and Wanless both noted that their unions have made concessions in the past three years. They said they need detailed proposals before they can ask their members to consider concessions to their binding contracts.

More information

City of Fresno's report on financial sustainability