Carter's Proposed Cuts May Hurt City Programs

Cambridge may face severe cuts in revenue sharing funds and capital grant programs as a result of President Carter's proposed reductions in the national budget.

Jim Malone, chief budget analyst for the city, said yesterday cuts can be expected in revenue sharing and capital grant programs such as the Comprehensive Employment and Training Act (CETA), the Integrated Criminal Apprehension Program (ICAP) and the Urban Mass Transit Administration.

Scalpel, Please

Carter proposed Friday a $13 billion cut in federal spending. Included in his revisions are a $1.7 billion revenue sharing cut from a previous level of $6.9 billion, a $265 million cut in mass transit capital grants and an $860 million cut in funds earmarked for "welfare reform."

The president also requested a $4.62 fee on each barrel of imported gasoline, which will lead to an estimated ten-cent-per-gallon rise in gasoline prices by May, and a reduction in federal civilian employment of 20,000.

Cambridge currently receives $2,546,560 in federal revenue sharing, Malone said. The city gets an additional $14,221,000 from the state, which Malone said is in danger of being cut.

More Surgery

Under the CETA program, which is heavily financed with federal money, Cambridge currently receives $6.9 million, Malone said, adding he is uncertain how much this amount will be cut.

ICAP funds of $350,000 are also threatened. "Any or all of our federal grants are in jeopardy," Malone said. The Cambridge coordinator for the ICAP is in Washington trying to prevent cuts to that program, Malone said.

The cutback in federal employees should have little effect on Cambridge bureaucracy. Malone said Cambridge "would not be directly adversely affected by that kind of a cut," but added that Cambridge residents who work for the federal government might indeed be affected.

The city's gasoline bills have been rising from $250,000 in 1979 to $350,000 this year to a projected $650,000 for next year, Malone said. The projected ten-cent rise in gasoline prices could raise fuel costs an additional $100,000, he said.

Malone said he is not sure how the $860 million cut in welfare programs will affect Cambridge though he estimated that half of Massacusetts welfare payments are federally supported.

Euphemism for St. Pat

Offices in the state Public Welfare department were closed yesterday in celebration of Evacuation Day, the day British troops left Boston during the Revolutionary War.

The proposed cut of $265 million in mass-transit capital grants will have little effect on cities, Bill Bishop, a public affairs officer at the United States Department of Transportation, said yesterday.

A Piddling $265 Million

Bishop said he believes the cut is an insignificant percentage of the Transportation Department's $83 billion budget, but he added other cuts may be forthcoming.

The cut "does not reduce the level of regular programs, he added, because the Transportation Department was going to request an additional $1.2 billion, which would be tied to a windfall profits tax--legislation which has yet to pass Congress.

Bishop said he believes the programs will not be cut below existing levels.