The city of Sonoma has a budget. Almost.
Agreeing on measures to reduce a proposed $494,000 general fund deficit to about $125,000 in red ink, the city council adjourned Wednesday night with a promise to finalize the $11.4 million budget in a special meeting on Sept. 30.
While several nonprofits, public art and the visitors bureau took a hit, no new or increased taxes were considered. “The budget maintains all services being provided by the city, at the lowest possible cost to the city,” said City Manager Linda Kelly.
The draft budget, prepared by Kelly and staff, already reflected a 10 percent reduction compared to last year. Additional savings, totaling $459,000, were proposed in the form of maintaining staff vacancies; a $61,000 reduction in the sheriff’s contract; and cuts to the cemetery fund ($25,000); public art ($25,000); and the Sonoma Valley Visitors Bureau ($50,000), among others.
Even with those adjustments the deficit stood at $494,000, the first negative city budget in memory.
The budget, balanced on paper, proposed two maneuvers to eliminate the deficit. One, take advantage of Proposition 1A and, essentially, keep the $133,000 the state confiscated in June by means of a no-risk loan. Two, suspend payments into three city funds dedicated to long-term building maintenance, information systems and vehicle replacement. The one-year suspension of general fund transfers to those accounts would save $361,000.
Councilors Joanne Sanders, Steve Barbose and August Sebastiani opposed the Proposition 1A loan, preferring to dip into the city’s own reserves rather than deal with the untrustworthy state government.
“We have the reserves to handle it,” Sebastiani said. “We’ve got rainy day funds … and it’s raining.”
The city has a $1.5 operational reserve, a $2.9 million special projects fund, and a $2.1 million fund for emergencies and disasters. Dipping into any of these accounts to pay off the rest of the deficit was not an option discussed Wednesday night.
As for the second budget-balancing proposal, the suspension of transfers, the council was cool to that as well. “I’d like to see more cuts before we forego the contributions to our long term funds,” stated Sanders. “Otherwise, we’re just kicking the can down the road.”
Barbose agreed. “This is not a temporary situation. We’ve got to belt-tighten.” He did return to the topic later in the meeting, proposing that the transfers not be suspended but rather cut in half. The other members seemed comfortable with the $180,000 compromise.
The funding of three nonprofit organizations traditionally supported by the city came under scrutiny. Vintage House, the Boys & Girls Clubs of Sonoma Valley and the Ecology Center were asking for a total of $164,000. Sanders likened the groups to city departments. “Everybody is taking a hit in this budget,” she said, and the service groups should, too.
“We appreciate the city’s dilemma,” said Cindy Scarborough, executive director of Vintage House. “Whatever you are able to give us will be put to good use.”
The council decided to roll back support of the three groups to last year’s level, $110,000 total, and realize a budget savings of $54,000.
Looking for additional cuts, Sanders brought up several line items. She questioned a raise for paramedics and EMS staff, a Plaza tree study and staffing needs at the building department. With a projected $175,000 less in construction-related revenue, “Does that mean we have less work to do? Fees have gone down,” she asked. “Have expenses gone down?
Answering for the department, Wayne Wirick said many projects carry over from year to year. There are training requirements, and someone must be available to the public. Under the current staff freeze, he estimates the permit process has slowed by about 40 percent. “We’ve had complaints from the public about the level of service.”
Sanders attracted little support for individual cuts that would further reduce the deficit that, with discussed cuts, stood at about $180,000.
More cuts and more hard decisions are needed, Sebastiani stressed. “I don’t know the will is there from this council,” he said. “I’m disappointed that’s the case.”
He proposed a monthly one-day work furlough for City Hall, an idea that intrigued Barbose and related to something the council had discussed in a closed session. Momentum quickly built to postpone any final decision until Kelly and staff could gather data, emanating from the closed session, which Barbose said would identify more “tools to work with.”
A tentative deficit awaits the council at its special meeting on Sept. 30, but Sanders said, “We’ve put a good dent in it.”
