How will Pacifica continue to deal with its economic downturn? Eight (8) year city council has made no effort to provide adequate tax revenue generating income, and there was no real city generated financial reserves stored away either, just return monies from an unnecessary law suit which cost this city an additional approximate net two million dollars? Thank eight (8) year city council by turning them out in 2010.
Posted by Kathy Meeh
4 comments:
I said during my campaign, "We are a tax and grant city, but the citizens can no longer afford the taxes and the state can no longer afford the grants."
Of course, there was a Letter to the Editor from a former mayor claiming my comments meant I didn't like old people, children, and probably cute puppies with wet noses. Its just the harsh economic reality this city has yet to face. The way we've done business the last 8 years has not been "sustainable."
I don't think any city in San Mateo County or beyond is not facing a crisis.
I wish it were otherwise.
The system is broken.
Thanks for your comments Lionel, what you say is true. And, here's the ongoing Pacifica problem as I see it. Our city general fund functions at the lowest level, providing fewer services to its citizens than any city in San Mateo County.
This statement is based upon research I did two years ago, comparing San Mateo county city general fund benefit per citizen. Pacfica was #1, the poorest city in San Mateo County, 12% lower than East Palo Alto.
Compounding budgetary and financial issues, our city debt is over $100 million, with city maintenance and improvements delayed, deferred, ignored, with additional cost passed to citizens.
With full knowledge of city financial/economic structural failure, this city council of 8 years has served-up the blue plate citizen communication special: "everything is okay". Clearly everything is not okay, and the unidentified vision has always been "nothing for Pacifica", good luck to us following their tenure.
Lionel, I agree there is a crisis across the country. The issue is, which cities will recover more quickly once the global economy recovers?
For example, from the 2007-2008 FY budget, there were the following staff reductions from the 2004-2005 FY budget for the City of Pacifica for Full Time Employees:
PBR: from 58.00 to 39.75
Public Works: from 26.36 to 11.75
Fire: from 37.50 to 22.50
Police: from 57.50 to 50.81
For the Fire Department, part of this reduction was due to joining the JPA, so the actual shared expense isn't really reflected in this budget. However, we do know the city reduced 3 firemen from its staff due to budget cuts a few years ago DESPITE the Fire Assessment Tax.
Now put this into context of the national economy . . . Pacifica made these reductions during an economic boom. This was all before the bust. In other words, Pacifica reduced its staff to the levels other cities are only now contemplating AFTER the worst financial meltdown in 80 years. Well, at least we are ahead of the times on this issue.
If I recall correctly, our budget deficit was $1.7 million just after the 2006 election, and $2.1 million in 2007, now it is almost $5 million (according to the mayor) and our reserve is depleted.
**I may explain our "phantom" reserve in more details for a later column.
The bottom line is Pacifica has had endemic budget deficits and staff reductions during a period when we should have been growing and saving. Other cities facing reductions have successfully negotiated with their employee unions to prevent cutting jobs. Cities like Foster City have a $20 million reserve they will not have to use because of a sound economic base.
Pacifica not had sound fiscal management for 8 years. Pacifica is suffering a death by a thousand cuts, and its hard for me to see the city avoiding bankruptcy without some major ideological changes in a City Council that seems incapable of major ideological changes.
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