There has been a slew of bad budget news in the last few weeks:
The Hollister School District has to close a $2 million budget gap;
the City of Hollister has a $4 million hole, even after green
–lighting a plan to lay off 36 employees; and San Benito County
also reported a $4 million shortfall.
These are trying times for local government.
There has been a slew of bad budget news in the last few weeks: The Hollister School District has to close a $2 million budget gap; the City of Hollister has a $4 million hole, even after green–lighting a plan to lay off 36 employees; and San Benito County also reported a $4 million shortfall.
Each government will have to struggle between cutting services and jobs and keeping its core mission intact. That’s not an easy task.
The city and the county should cut nonessential programs and focus on public safety. Police and fire departments must have funding so they can respond appropriately to an emergency and keep crime under control.
To the school district, we say cut corners outside the classrooms so the effects on students are minimized. The district’s budget committee has put forth ideas like cutting cell phones for maintenance staff and Internet connections for the district. We say do it.
Board President Dee Brown said taking away cell phones seems like an easy way to save a few thousands bucks, but maintenance crews need to be able to be reached when they are at one school and a water pipe breaks at a campus across town. Her point was even small cuts have an impact.
That’s true, but this is the time for creative solutions. How about going into the store rooms an dusting off some of the hand–held radios we bet are laying around? You would be able to keep in touch for the price of batteries. That’s better than saving a few thousand bucks by cutting educational supplies.
In addition to trimming expenses, we encourage all governments to comb their books looking for ways to increase revenue. The city will likely raise its water rates by 30 percent, City Manager Dale Shaddox said Friday. That hurts, but it’s the first water rate increase in 13 years. What else is there that needs to be brought up to date?
The county will look at activating a 17-year-old tax district that was established but never collected any money. That money would go to pay the California Department of Forestry and Fire, which provides fire protection in the county. Again, that hurts, but we can’t sacrifice our safety because the county’s broke.
Also, governments could open up negotiations with labor unions to save jobs. The Santa Clara County Sheriff’s Department agreed to delay a contract raise to save bodies.
Finally, officials need to lobby State Sen. Jeff Denham, R-Merced, and Assemblyman Simon Salinas, D-Salinas, to keep the state from dipping into our local government’s pockets to solve its own budget problems.
These are tough times. But we’re confident that if local governments watch their spending, focus on their core missions and bring in some more cash, we’ll get through it. Then, when the economy improves – as it always does – we’ll have the delightful problem of deciding what services to add and preventing this from happening again.
To respond to this editorial or comment on this issue, please send or bring letters to Editor, Hollister Free Lance, 350 Sixth St., Hollister, Calif. 95023 or fax to 637-4104 or e-mail ed****@***********ws.com
