Friday, April 22, 2011

Sacramento Bee: Sacramento Area Cities Struggling with Budget Issues

Sacramento-area cities continue to struggle with busted budgets

Published: Friday, Apr. 22, 2011 - 12:00 am | Page 1B
Local cities have embraced a sobering budget philosophy as they face the new fiscal year July 1 – tough financial times aren't subsiding anytime soon and may hang around for years.

"Every day, articles are being written of the dire situation that cities are in," Folsom City Manager Kerry Miller told the City Council last week. "The challenges appear to have continuing life. We're projecting several years of rather anemic growth."

From Woodland to Galt, the era of tight budgeting to offset deficits continues unabated.

Strategies of past years – spending reserve funds, deferring maintenance and cutting jobs – won't be as much help in the new fiscal year. Even as some revenue streams stabilized and appear to be increasing, officials say they're unlikely to keep pace with higher health care and pension costs.

A number of cities have voted to lock in future funds for redevelopment projects in light of state plans to disband redevelopment agencies.

Meanwhile, local governments are bracing for cuts in state money as California copes with its own $15.4 billion deficit after July 1.

Here's how cities around the region are coping:

Folsom:
Folsom's budget plan calls for a smaller workforce – 13.5 positions cut after July 1 – and for some employees to continue to have furlough days, and no cost-of-living raises.

The city, with the help of most of its bargaining groups, has cut $1.5 million from next year's general fund budget thanks to employee concessions – but the increased costs of fuel, wages, health care and pensions will offset that.

The city's multiyear forecast still projects deficits in the years ahead, city officials told reporters last week.
Budget officials said they don't foresee major new jobs in the area for another year, and they don't expect property tax revenue to begin to recover until 2013.

Woodland
The outlook for a continued economic squeeze is similar in Woodland, where the draft 2011-12 budget was released late last month. City Manager Mark Deven said he expects the tough times to continue for five to eight years.

"We are seeing an uptick in the economy," Deven said last week. "We're definitely seeing our sales tax and other sources starting to stabilize."
But that is no match for higher pension costs and more costly medical benefits for employees, he said.

"I don't think we're going to see any return to boom times. Those days are over," Deven said. "Whatever we do, we must be geared for the long haul."

Woodland general fund projections are about $1.2 million less than what city departments say they need to effectively operate. Part of the solution, Deven wrote in a staff report, will be to meet with employee groups to seek concessions.

Sacramento:
The new budget is to be released on April 29 and is expected to show a $40 million deficit. City budget hearings begin in May. For a city budget fact sheet, visit the Web at cityofsacramento.org and link to the city "budget brochure."

Roseville:
A draft budget is planned for a mid-May release with budget workshops in June. Spokeswoman Megan MacPherson said the city will seek to reduce expenses without lowering service levels.

Galt:
The 2011-12 budget was proposed a year ago as part of a two-year planning effort.
City officials have used $1 million in reserves over the last three years to balance the budget. But in the coming year, that no longer will be possible, City Manager Jason Behrmann has said.

For the fiscal year that ends June 30, the budget stands at $11.6 million. But the current $1 million deficit is expected to grow to $1.3 million after July 1, he said. So city officials are seeking ways to bring projected spending and revenues into balance.

Adoption is set for May 24.

Elk Grove:
The City Council will receive a proposed budget May 25 that City Manager Laura Gill described as "status quo."

A workshop is set for June 8, with council adoption either on that day or on June 22.
The challenge in the new budget will be to implement a pay plan the council approved in late 2009.

Rancho Cordova:
The proposed budget is to reach the City Council on May 12, with a budget workshop May 16. Council adoption is scheduled for June 6.

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