After over thirteen hours of presentations, public comment, council conversations, and hours of studying the proposed budget, the Council approved our 2010-11 budget. While we were fiscally responsible by approving a balanced budget without the use of reserves, I do not believe that anyone is happy with what we had to do.
Here are the highlights of the 2010-11 Budget:
- General Fund Budget: $75 million
- Balanced budget without the use of Reserves
- Overall 8% reduction
- Department reductions ranged from 1% to 13%
- No layoffs of sworn police officers
- No layoffs of firefighters
- No pay cuts, reduction in benefits or furloughs
- Elimination of over 40 staff positions
- Layoffs of 15 – 20 staff
We also increased parking meter rates downtown, will be charging for annual fire department inspections of commercial properties and apartment buildings, and will be developing a new tree preservation ordinance with associated fees for tree removals.
Even though were able to approve a balanced budget, the hard work ahead will be implementing the changes that we made. What is even worse is that we are already looking at annual multi-million deficits for the foreseeable future.
The BIG questions that what we need to answer regarding our Quality of Life in Redwood City are:
- What are the services that we need Redwood City to provide?
- What are we willing to pay for these services?
If we are able to answer these two questions as a community, we might be able to establish a more sound financial foundation for our City. I look forward to hearing from you regarding your thoughts and answers.