by Olga Diaz, Escondido City Councilmember

Like most cities, Escondido has experienced continued loss of revenues resulting from a hurting economy.  General Fund revenues have declined from nearly $84 million to $66 million in less than five years.  Valued City services have been reduced or eliminated, leaving many residents disappointed and worried about additional cuts.  It is clear from past budget debates that all members of the City Council struggle between the need for a balanced budget and the desire to minimize the impact of elimination of programs and services.  To this end, we unanimously approved a 2009-10 budget, making use of prudent cuts and economic uncertainty reserve funds.  Unfortunately, our revenue projections fell short and we are faced with the need to impose mid-year budget cuts.

This year, I join Mayor Pro-Tem (Dick) Daniels as a member of the budget sub-committee.  We have held two budget sub-committee meetings and will present information about our progress to the full council for discussion this week (Wednesday, January 27 at 4 p.m.) and again in late February with a final vote on March 3, 2010.

To date, City management has solicited direction from the sub-committee about the desired level and source of budget savings. Realizing that without expense reductions, the city will exhaust all reserve funds within two years, we recommended savings in a target range of 3 to 4 million dollars for the remainder of 2009-10. This will translate to achieving a balanced budget for 2010-11.

Management recommendations included elimination of funding to the arts center, closure of the East Valley community branch library, reduction in main library branch staffing and services, reduction of code enforcement staffing, closure of several parks, closure of both public pools, elimination of funding for non-profits, postponement of hiring several police officers and fire safety staff. Recommended cuts would save over 9 million dollars next year, closing the gap between projected revenue and estimated expenses – a balanced budget.

None of the cuts are desirable, but most will be necessary. A discussion by the full council may result in a shift from what management has proposed. My personal opinion is that our Library must be protected from any further cuts. Parks & Recreation programs are of great value to families in our community and serve as a primary form of public safety – keeping kids busy, in safe environments, and surrounded by positive role models. To this end, I would consider using more of our economic uncertainty reserve dollars to maintain service levels in these two areas.

Yet unexplored is the idea of raising our sales tax rate or perhaps focusing more effort on economic development. Certainly the public should participate by sharing suggestions.

Current budget documents are available in their entirety on-line.