The verbified nouns were flying freely yesterday morning when the Claremont City Council held a special meeting to "dialogue" their budget problems.
Years of foolish spending on things like overly generous employee benefits have finally caught up with the City in the form of a projected $2.7 million in deficits over the next two fiscal years. As we wrote earlier, the city's staff has come up with a variety of layoffs, cuts in programs and services, and borrowing from Claremont's General Fund Reserve to balance the budget.
As the City's website reports, the City Council approved staff recommendations to cut over $1.3 million from the FY 2010-11. The council deferred dealing with the FY 2011-12 budget until the end of May, when they will hold another special budget meeting:
Council Directs Staff To Bring Back Recommendations For Further Reductions
The City Council directed staff to schedule another Budget Workshop in late May to address the budget shortfall in 2011-12 Fiscal Year. The City Council approved staff recommendations for staff and program reductions for fiscal year 2010-11 resulting in a reduction of $1,318,727 in expenditures. In fiscal year 2011-12, staff has projected a $750,000 shortfall which is dependent on several undecided factors. These factors include the outcome of the State Redevelopment lawsuit, negotiations with labor unions, and the California State budget. At the late May workshop, staff will give an update on these factors, and provide additional reduction recommendations if neccessary.
- View Budget Workshop Packet (Adobe Acrobat, 567KB)
It's not all bad news, though. The city is still planning on spending thousands on a gala grand opening for Claremont's new multi-million dollar Padua Ave. Sports Park on April 24. As the City's financial situation heaves its aft end skyward just before taking that grand dive to the bottom, think of the April event as the equivalent of the Titanic's band bravely playing "Nearer My God to Thee" for its earthly farewell.
Party on, Claremont!
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