Hollister
– If city voters reject Measure R next month, Hollister will see
big service cuts across the board, City Manager Clint Quilter said
at Monday’s City Council meeting. During the meeting, Quilter
presented a contingency plan for dealing with the city’s $2.7
million deficit.
Hollister – If city voters reject Measure R next month, Hollister will see big service cuts across the board, City Manager Clint Quilter said at Monday’s City Council meeting. During the meeting, Quilter presented a contingency plan for dealing with the city’s $2.7 million deficit.
“We’ve pretty much already cut everything to the bone,” he said.
When asked after the meeting which department would be most affected by the deficit, Quilter said, “Everything had substantial cuts. They would not function as normal departments any longer.”
The largest potential savings Quilter identified were in police and animal control, which could be cut by more than $1.2 million. This would involve the elimination of gang prevention and intervention, elimination of proactive policing, elimination of property crime investigation, elimination of drug crime investigation, reduction of office hours to 25 hours per week and elimination of spay/neuter programs.
Quilter said that in determining which departments would be cut, “We had to look at where the money was being spent.”
Measure R was placed on the November ballot by the City Council. If passed, it would raise the city’s sales tax from 7.25 percent to 8.25 percent. The measure would take effect on April 1, 2007, and automatically expire five years later; it would also create a citizens’ oversight committee to monitor the spending of additional funds.
If the measure is not passed, Quilter said potential budget cuts could also result in reduced hours at city hall, closure of the finance office one day per week, elimination of the fire department’s truck company, closure of all park restrooms, elimination of pothole repair, elimination of non-development-reimbursed planning, delays to implementation of the general plan and elimination of the recreation department.
“That’s what $2.7 million gets you,” Quilter told the Council.
He later said the contingency plan – which was prepared by department heads in consultation with their staffs – is just an overview of a budget cut’s potential effects. Quilter noted that the deficit would shrink the budget by around 20 percent, and that the city already cut its budget by 20 percent in 2004.
“When we cut the first 20 percent, we cut it down to where (the departments) could still function,” he said. “We didn’t cut any services, and maybe we should have; it just took us longer to do anything.”
Quilter also said Hollister’s per capita revenue is lower than most other cities’ because it receives a very low percentage of property tax revenue and has no utility user tax.
“The base money from the state can’t provide the level of service that cities would like to have,” he said.
City Council members declined to offer many comments or questions on the plan, saying they would have more to contribute when Quilter hosts a study session on the budget cuts in early November.
Mayor Robert Scattini later told the Free Lance that he wished the city could have waited until after the current election to put the measure on the ballot.
“The way we got beat up on raising the sewer rates … I personally think this has a slim chance of passing,” he said. “But the bottom line is, we need it.”
According to Quilter, the city’s budget deficit has been shrinking and should be eliminated within five years.
Anthony Ha covers local government for the Free Lance. Reach him at 831-637-5566, ext. 330 or ah*@fr***********.com.
