Deputy cut to pay stipend to volunteer firefighters
San Juan Bautista residents will have one less deputy patrolling
the city in January, just one of many services that may be cut in
the next six months.
Deputy cut to pay stipend to volunteer firefighters
San Juan Bautista residents will have one less deputy patrolling the city in January, just one of many services that may be cut in the next six months.
The city currently pays for two full-time deputies who provide service beyond what the sheriff’s department would normally provide,said Jan McClintock, city manager.
Officials will cut one of those deputies to pay the city’s volunteer firefighters a stipend, McClintock said. The stipend is new to the city. The 13 firefighters would receive $15 for each call they go out on.
San Juan will not be patrolled as heavily as when there were two deputies dedicated to San Juan, said Patrick Turturici, undersheriff for the San Benito County sheriff’s department.
The department will continue to patrol the city, he said.
“We’re going to continue to provide them service,” Tuturici said.
Including salary and benefits, city officials will save approximately $100,000 by cutting one deputy, he said.
City officials are looking at other means of security, such as private patrol McClintock said.
Private security is much cheaper than a deputy, McClintock said.
“But then, they don’t have the same capabilities as a deputy,” she said.
Though McClintock said that private security would be cheaper than a deputy, she could not cite any figures regarding the cost of private security.
“We’re going to have to do some more investigation on whether the increased visibility of having a private security guard is worth it,” McClintock said. “There are things that private security could not do.”
City officials would put out a request for proposals for private security, she said. She does not know when that might happen.
“It’s on my list of things to do,” McClintock said. “I don’t want to put a timeframe on it, but it is a priority.”
A ballot measure last November would have increased the city’s sales tax by .5 percent. It was defeated by 12 votes, McClintock said.
The revenue could have paid for things such as police and fire, she said.
Officials plan to put the measure back on the ballot in June 2008, McClintock said. City council members will discuss the issue on the Jan. 15 meeting, she said.
San Juan’s only gas station closed last year, causing a loss of sales tax revenue for the city, McClintock said. Officials made $25,000 in budget cuts to offset the loss in revenue, she said.
“We’re down to where it is pretty much essential services,” she said.
At the city council meeting on Feb. 18, officials will conduct a mid-year review of the sales tax to see how much money it generated, McClintock said.
The only discretionary spending left in San Juan’s city budget is the library, McClintock said.
“We do not want to cut the library anymore than it’s already been cut,” she said. “It’s pretty much the only thing we offer the kids.”
Library hours were cut from 63 hours per week to 28 hours per week last year, due to budget cuts.
San Juan’s drinking water and wastewater facilities are not in any danger, she said, because users pay for services.
“Those are fiscally sound with the rate increases that were approved in March 2007,” McClintock said.
San Juan officials will receive more money from property taxes, said Joe Paul Gonzales, San Benito County’s clerk/auditor/recorder.
The assessed value of homes in San Juan went up last year, he said.
San Juan city officials will receive at least 10.5 percent more from property taxes, Gonzalez said.
“It was a rather big increase,” McClintock said, “We don’t budget for new property coming in until we see the money.”
Citizens voted down an initiative that would have raised growth caps in Nov. 2007, a move that would have made the city eligible for some grants. Officials look into getting a measure that would amendment the city’s growth cap on the ballot in November 2008, she said.
“We just got notice on another round of grants that we’re not eligible because we don’t have a certified housing element,” McClintock said.
The grants would have helped property owners who own vacant lots to build in-fill housing downtown, she said.
“It’s a lot of money that we’re not eligible for,” McClintock said.
