Tomorrow's 4:30 study session will have Bobby Young give Council Members the mid-year budget review.
On the whole, it is very good news. Property, TOT and sales taxes are up and combined with other savings we won't need to take drastic measures to balance the budget.
The shortfall is $1.387,192 instead of $6 million. Cuts we considered last year, but did not make, will be presented to the Council. And we won't have to use our fund balance--those reserves set aside to use for "restricted" accounts.
http://www.ci.costa-mesa.ca.us/council/study-session/2011-01-11/midystudysession_staffrpt_fy11.pdf
3 comments:
So, when do the kids on the westside get their after school programs back - you know, the ones that were cut during the late hour ambush? As I recall, Gary was the one who said they'd be back when things get better.
I wish I could give you some encouragement, but we are still $1.5 million short to balance our budget. In the meantime, I continue to recruit volunteers for the current after school programs run by several non profit organizations (MIKA, THINK TOGETHER AND SAVE OUR YOUTH-SOY Center). Also, I am always on the look out for funding sources for our after school programs. Things are getting a little better, but it will be awhile before the City funds the after school programs. Please let me know if you want to go on a tour of the after school programs I mentioned. Also, feel free to ask Gary too!
Calls for more cuts to staffing are nothing more than shortsighted "fixes" that will harm the city in the long run. It took many years to create the budget shortfall, and it will not be fixed in one year. There are no miracles in city government, despite what despot Righeimer and his crony McCarthy would have you think. Rainy day funds are there for times like this, and those funds will be replenished in the next few years. South Coast Plaza opened 9 new stores. Wow, the economy must suck?!?!?!
Let's look at some staffing cuts the city made last year. Here is my favorite, the Community Service Officer Positions in the traffic bureau. That position impounded vehicles driven by illegal aliens, wrote parking citations to those people who are better than the rest of us and feel they can park wherever they choose, and handled traffic collisions where moving violations were handed out. Now, for those of you that don't understand what this means go ahead and check out those revenue projections that were released a few weeks ago. Look under those sections and see how much revenue these cuts cost us. Temporary savings cost us enough to balance the budget... Check it out Wendy, hire back some of those positions and you will close the budget gap this year. These numbers don't lie.
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