Budget Advisory Committee Recommendations
The Bulletin published two articles today that do a great job of describing yesterday's Budget Advisory Committee deliberations. It was a very lively meeting, and all twelve members in attendance actively participated in the discussion. In my 25+ years of city government, I've rarely seen a group that has been this focused, determined and passionate about presenting a workable solution to the City Council.
It was also a very well balanced group with very diverse views on most subjects. However, they worked very hard to find common ground--and they made that common ground very clear: times are tough for everyone, and city government needs to make the same sacrifices everyone else is making right now. This means cutting costs, working harder and working for less compensation. They also made it clear that it was not the time to talk about new general revenues. In these difficult economic times, family budgets are not ready to take on an additional cost burden.
I'd like to again thank all of the members of the Committee for all of the time they have spent with staff over the past 7 weeks. Their input has been invaluable, and I look forward to April 7 when the committee will be reporting back to the City Council. I'd also like to thank the City Council for creating this committee and appointing an excellent cross section of our community.
Here are some quick links to the articles in the Bulletin:
http://www.mantecabulletin.com/news/article/2579/
http://www.mantecabulletin.com/news/article/2581/
It was also a very well balanced group with very diverse views on most subjects. However, they worked very hard to find common ground--and they made that common ground very clear: times are tough for everyone, and city government needs to make the same sacrifices everyone else is making right now. This means cutting costs, working harder and working for less compensation. They also made it clear that it was not the time to talk about new general revenues. In these difficult economic times, family budgets are not ready to take on an additional cost burden.
I'd like to again thank all of the members of the Committee for all of the time they have spent with staff over the past 7 weeks. Their input has been invaluable, and I look forward to April 7 when the committee will be reporting back to the City Council. I'd also like to thank the City Council for creating this committee and appointing an excellent cross section of our community.
Here are some quick links to the articles in the Bulletin:
http://www.mantecabulletin.com/news/article/2579/
http://www.mantecabulletin.com/news/article/2581/
posted by City Manager @ 10:25 AM
2 Comments:
At March 30, 2009 5:33 AM ,
PMAN said...
I have a few suggestions for the budget committee to review...maybe they have already.
1. City vehicles. Why does upper management get a vehicle to take home...or a fuel allowence? It seems to me that they make enough money to pay for their own gas and should have their own transportation to get to work like the rest of the workers do. There should be some cost savings for the City there.
2. Uniforms. I know that the workers look very nice and professional but the cost of all those different uniforms, shirts, pants, boots, with their names and city logos has to be costly...not to mention the service to keep them all clean. Why not just provide the workers with the safety T-shirts...all the same color with the City logo on the front? No pants, no jackets, no boots, no laundry service. I know it's not as nice looking, but it has to be a lot less expensive. My son is a police officer in another City. They just cut their uniform allowance and they never did pay for their clothes to be cleaned. So why is the City still doing that for all these workers?
3. This is a radical thought....way out of the box. Why do we pay firemen to sleep? I know it's been a long standing tradition but why can't they work shifts like the Police Dept?
Just a few thoughts
At March 30, 2009 1:05 PM ,
009 said...
With seventy to seventy-five percent of the General fund expenditures going to pay for public safety and seventy percent of that going to pay public safety employees, we are ignoring the nine hundred pound gorilla in the room. Joe Kriskovich told mid-management, at our quarterly meeting, that police and firemen make about thirty dollars an hour on average, but he failed to explain that they also make over a hundred thousand dollars per year because of overtime pay. The city could layoff every employee except police and fire and we would still have a deficit. Please consider the following suggestions:
1. The city must eliminate overtime.
2. Institute shift work for firefighters as suggested in the previously posted comments.
3. Utilize volunteer firemen on call as needed to cover manpower shortfalls in emergencies. Evening shifts would be a great place for volunteers. Integrate the volunteers with the fire academy.
4. Look at how fire responds to medical emergencies. It is a total waste of personell and resources to send a parametic unit, an engine and another vehicle when the parametic unit or ambulance would suffice.
4. Utilize more volunteers and unpaid reserve officers for the police department.
5. Institute neighborhood policing with volunteers integrating with neighborhood watch. Empower the citizens to take back their neighborhoods from the gangs.
6. Increase impound release fees. These fees are currently too low.
Other ideas for increasing revenue:
7. Instead of calling it a utility tax, call it what it really is - a public safety tax. The citizens want public safety. They must be educated on the costs so they understand why we need the tax. I believe it would have a much better chance of passing if the voters understood that seventy-five percent of the city's general fund expenditures pay for public safety.
8. Make sure Parks and Recreation fees are not subsidized. Citizens need to pay for the classes and services they want. Let the free market determine what the community wants to support.
9. Make sure city sevices like water, sewer, and solid waste are not subsidized. Let the actual costs determine the rates.
10. Look at competitive public bidding for solid waste collection.
11. There are approximately 4600 multifamily units in the City. Only 76 properties currently pay business license fees. These 76 properties represent a portion of the properties with five or more units on one parcel. This unfairly targets those businesses. All multifamily properties should have business licenses and pay the business license fees. This would also help the city better track the rental units in the city and to maintain adequate code enforcement.
12. Enforce the municipal code and charge administrative penalties for violations and set those penalities high enough to cover the cost of enforcement. It would clean up Manteca! It would improve neighborhoods, decrease crime and make Manteca a better place to live.
13. If the other cost cutting measures and revenue enhancements I have suggested are still not curing the deficit, I suggest additional furlough equivalent to next January's four percent cost of living increase. That would be approximately equivalent to 80 hours or ten additional friday closures; which brings me to my next suggestion.
14. Rather than layoffs, furlough every other friday and put the city on a four day work week and spread the resulting pay cut out over the year.
15. Increase the copay amount on medical to $20 or more and institute medical savings accounts that the employees do not lose if they don't use them. We should do this regardless of other measures. It would make much more sense than the current cafeteria plan.
Above all stop ignoring the 900 pound gorilla of public safety expenditures.
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