Colusa finance director disappears; city has deficit
May 21, 2011 12:25:00 AMBy Susan Meeker
Colusa County Sun-Herald
A recently promoted fireman will lose his job, a new police chief will not be named and city services will make do with a few less people.
The bombshell announcement came this week after the Colusa City Council discovered its budget is about $370,000 short.
Finance Director Beth Penner disappeared, supposedly on medical leave, after presenting a nearly balanced budget in April, which was not approved due to a number of spreadsheet errors found during the special meeting, city officials said.
Penner resigned May 11.
It was during her absence that City Manager Jan McClintock sent the budget to Andy Heath, a financial consultant from Auburn, to review.
Heath discovered not only the spreadsheet errors, but a number of cost allocations he could not support, McClintock said.
"There is a difference of opinion on how costs can be allocated," said McClintock.
City officials said the layoff of Fire Marshal Buck Gonczeruk and other changes in personnel were the only recourse to counter the shortfall, as the city had already cut nonpersonnel expenses to the "bare bones."
"We have no choice," said Councilwoman Donna Critchfield. "We are dealing with a deficit."
Gonczeruk was promoted from assistant fire chief to fire marshal on March 1.
The Fire Department restructuring at that time left Gonczeruk without "bumping" rights to any job held by firefighters with less seniority, city officials said.
Gonczeruk has been with the Fire Department since 2004. Prior to his employment, he was a volunteer firefighter since 1991.
The council also decided Tuesday to leave Acting Police Chief Ross Stark, a longtime lieutenant in the department, in charge of the law enforcement at his interim rate of pay for another year, and vacant positions, including the finance director, will not be filled.
Indian gaming funds, which were earmarked for another firefighter and another police officer next year, will now be used to prevent additional layoffs in those departments, officials said.
Mayor Tom Reische called the countermeasures unfortunate, especially the loss of Gonczeruk.
"We hate losing even one employee," he said.
The City Council in April had anticipated being about $6,400 short at the end of the fiscal year, June 30, not including the start-up loan to the Colusa Redevelopment Agency for about $239,000.
At the time, Penner said the city, which was operating on last year's figures, had already spent most of the $3.7 million budget.
The revised budget adopted Tuesday noted significant reductions in property taxes and other general fund revenue, largely due to a depressed economy, and shows actual revenue for the year is only about $2.7 million.
The city also had a large one-time buyout for accrued sick leave and vacation when police Chief Lyle Montgomery retired.
It also noted that some expenses for projects, such as the 10th Street traffic signal and Safe Routes to School may not have been allocated correctly, and further investigation may bump the deficit even higher, officials said.
Now that the City Council has discovered the problem, city officials plan to take additional cost-saving measures as it begins work on the 2011-12 budget.
City officials plan to negotiate with the unions for more concessions and are investigating options to have street crews become more active in road work, which may allow the city to use alternative funding sources, such as gas taxes, to pay for their salaries.
About 70 percent of the city's budget is tied to personnel expenses, McClintock said.
No comments:
Post a Comment