LOS ANGELES -- For the first time in more than a decade, the proposed city budget provides the Los Angeles Police Department with more funding to cover officer overtime costs, Chief William Bratton said Monday.

The chief addressed the council's Budget and Finance Committee during a daylong hearing at City Hall to discuss the $7 billion spending plan proposed for 2008-09.

The budget provides funding for more police officers and firefighters, and would result in higher fees on such services as trash collection, pet adoptions from city shelters and playing a round of golf at a municipal course.

Since 1994, the LAPD has been allocated 1.2 million hours of overtime -- about $52 million. During the next fiscal year, overtime expected to increase to 1.6 million hours.

"We agree that the appropriate level of overtime funding has been proposed and is consistent with current use," Bratton said.

To minimize the use of overtime, the LAPD is working with District Attorney Steve Cooley to reduce the time officers spend at courthouses. An electronic subpoena system, still under development, could reduce the time it takes to notify officers when they are no longer needed in court, Bratton said.

"We anticipate that will save significant amounts of overtime," he said.

Arif Alikhan, deputy mayor of Homeland Security and Public Safety, noted the LAPD's overtime usage will not decrease, even as more officers are hired.

"We have learned that more police does not necessarily reduce overtime, but in some cases increases overtime as arrests increase," Alikhan said. "Traditionally, overtime has been under-funded, with certain deficits being achieved, and then having to resolve that shortfall in the middle of the year and making much more difficult cuts that usually come from other departments."

In the next fiscal year, which starts July 1, the city plans to hire 780 police officers and 250 firefighters.

The city's trash collection fee was last increased two years ago. While the money could not be earmarked, the higher fee was touted as a way to pay for Mayor Antonio Villaraigosa's LAPD hiring plan.

Under the proposed budget for fiscal year 2008-09, single-family households would see a hike from $26 to $36.32, about a 30 percent increase. For multi-family units, the fee would increase from $17.16 to $24.33.

If the budget is adopted by the City Council, Angelenos could expect to start paying those higher fees sometime in the fall.

The mayor's proposed budget also calls for eliminating 767 civilian positions and mandating "short-term layoffs" that could mean six unpaid vacation days for city employees.

Of the 767 positions that would be eliminated, 350 are currently filled. It is not known how many city employees would actually lose their jobs.

City Administrative Officer Karen Sisson called it "one of the most challenging budgets in recent times."

Members of the Budget and Finance Committee spent Monday morning discussing the LAPD's budget, and focused Monday afternoon on the Fire Department, City Controller and City Attorney budgets.

City employees held a news conference before the budget hearing got under way to announce ideas on how the city can reduce a projected $406 million deficit and continue to provide city services.

"We're dedicated to being a part of the solution. The Coalition of City Unions calls upon our members working on the front lines of city services to come up with ideas to help the city," said Cheryl Parisi with AFSCME Council 36.

Employees' ideas include issuing more parking and traffic tickets, implementing overnight parking permits, reducing paper consumption, charging for criminal background checks and doing helicopter maintenance in-house.

Nineteen-year veteran sanitation worker Frank Briscoe said Monday that every day, 2 tons of recyclables winds up in trash landfills, and hauling it costs big bucks.

Librarians recommended Monday charging non-resident fees for using city libraries. Other suggestions included rental fees for entertainment DVDs, fees to ship entertainment DVDs elsewhere and fees to use library computers.

The Workers' Coalition wants to get into the advertising business, using city worker cars as billboards, KNBC's Laurel Erickson reported.

Another suggestion included leasing out radio frequencies not used by police and fire to other cities.

Other suggestions included: stop giving out free treated water to nearby municipalities, and start charging when other cities ask for criminal background checks.