Earlier today this appeared on www.redding.com. and kind of says it all:
Redding will suspend the lowered utility late fees approved earlier this year so the city may avoid laying off up to seven police officers in its latest round of general fund budget cutting.
This evening's 3-2 vote to take back the late fee discount came as the council voted to lop nearly $3.8 million, or 5.5 percent, from the city's general fund.
Vice Mayor Patrick Jones and Councilwoman Missy McArthur voted against giving up the utility late fee discount to spare police officer jobs.
The council voted unanimously on the rest of the cuts, which include up to 21 layoffs and closing Fire Station 3 on Westside Road near Buenaventura Boulevard and Highway 273.
City Manager Kurt Starman told the council, however, that the city and the firefighters union are discussing using six firefighters from Station 3 as "floaters" rather than laying them off. These "floaters" would fill in for firefighters who would otherwise work overtime. Fire Station 3 would still close if the city kept those six firefighters on its payroll, Starman said.
Other cuts approved this evening include suspending the city's $279,000 contribution to Turtle Bay Exploration Park starting in mid-2010.
Turtle Bay officials have said they support the city's decision to suspend its funding. But the organization wants to work with the city to come up with other funding sources for the park outside the general fund, 60 percent of which is devoted to police and fire.
Those funding sources could include redevelopment dollars, federal Community Development Block Grants that could help subsidize some events or allow schools to visit the museum at a lowered cost, Starman said.
The city's utilities could also team up with Turtle Bay on education campaigns, he said.
Steve Gaston, who chairs the Turtle Bay board, said the park needs to show municipal support when it applies for private grants.
Council members were subdued as they rapidly voted on this latest round of budget cuts, the fourth exceeding $1 million in the past 12 months.
Nearly a dozen speakers had excoriated the council for cutting public safety.
"If Redding is not a safe place to live, it really won't matter how many Sundial Bridges, river walks and Stillwater bridges we have," said Connie Spooner. "A 10 percent cut to the city manager's office will not have same ramifications to the community as a 10 percent cut to public safety."
Council member Dick Dickerson proposed that the city suspend the lowered REU late fees until city general fund revenues return to 2006 levels.
The $700,000 savings from reversing the late fee discount could preserve the crime statistician, four community service officers, two investigators and school resource officer on the chopping block, Dickerson said.
The council in June had lowered utility late fees in an effort to cut the number of REU customers disconnected for nonpayment.
A council majority in June was willing to follow a committee's recommendation to lower late fees from $36 to $25, or by 30 percent, at an estimated cost of $619,000 to the general fund. Staff had urged the council not to lower the fees.
Mayor Rick Bosetti and council member Mary Stegall supported Dickerson's idea.
Jones and McArthur -- the only council members who had supported ending the city's controversial abatement policy against REU customers who have been disconnected for nonpayment -- opposed it, also with no discussion.
