Editor’s note: The Free Lance requested these guest views on budget management from mayoral candidates.
The city of Hollister’s General Fund revenue currently is about $14 million dollars. This amount includes about $3.2 million dollars generated by Measure T. Hollister has a population of about 37,000. To illustrate the difficulty our community faces in providing adequate service to our residents, we need only look at surrounding communities.
Morgan Hill: population ~ 40,000, revenue $ 28 million.
Gilroy: population ~ 49,000, revenue ~ $ 37 million.
Salinas: population ~ 155,000, revenue ~ $ 82 million.
Watsonville: population ~49,600, revenue ~ $ 33 million.
Monterey: population ~28,000, revenue ~ $ 55 million.
Hollister: population ~ 37,000, fund revenue ~ $14 million.
Except for the City of Monterey, all of these cities have special sales and use tax measures similar to Hollister’s Measure T. While Hollister has had a balanced budget the past two fiscal years, severe service reductions have been made. Further reductions are simply unacceptable.
There has been much talk as to how Measure E funds should be spent if the measure passes. My position remains firm: there can be no reduction in the level of service to our community. All of the current Measure T revenue now goes into the General Fund and 70% of the General Fund now goes for public safety, including animal service. If Measure E passes and only 50% of those funds go for public safety (as some have proposed) we would need to reduce our public safety budget over $600,000 annually. We currently have 22 police officers and 20 firefighters. This proposed reduction by others means that we will need to eliminate some combination of six or seven police officers and firefighters. Furthermore, if no Measure E funding goes to other departments as proposed by others, we would have to eliminate nearly $1 million from the remaining 14 departments. The best way to do that is to eliminate all recreation and animal services. We would also need to find other reductions because both the recreation and animal services departments bring in additional revenue. Similarly, the building department and veterans building bring in revenue.
Solutions to the city’s budget problem will not be easy. In the short term, there must be additional employee concessions. While salaries for city employees have increased by less than 1% in the past eight years, retirement costs and health care costs have increased. In the past four years all employees have already given back, either in the form of reduced salaries or paying a larger share of retirement costs. Employees need to be commended for their actions. However, it is crucial that the city further reduce both pension and health benefit costs. Those reductions can only come about through negotiations.
Our long-term problem has little to do with expense. When looking at our surrounding communities it is clear that our long-term solution lies in revenue generation. For the long-term solution, I am proposing both projects and processes. In my last article on economics I discussed three projects that, if elected, I will pursue. The airport project is vital, because it will generate 4,000 new jobs. In terms of a process to improve revenue I will advocate for the city to be a true partner with the business community. One of my first functions will be to meet with the Chamber of Commerce, Downtown Association, Business Council, county and what remains of the Economic Development Corporation. Each of these groups has a vested interest in our community. Each group has a vision of what our community should be. My objective would be to have these groups agree, in writing, on a set of principles which will guide us through these difficult times and create a better future. I envision this to be the start of a process similar to Joint Venture Silicon Valley in the bay area. Joint Venture Silicon Valley consists of government, education, business and community leaders all working together to achieve common goals. There is no finger pointing, everyone has a stake and everyone contributes.
There are solutions for the city’s budget problem. There is light at the end of the tunnel, but it is going to take time and someone with strong leadership skills to guide us through these difficult times. My leadership experience in government, education, the non-profit world and the community have provided me with the skills needed to face these challenging times.
