Jesse B. Gill, Staff Writer
Posted: 01/02/2010 10:04:17 PM PST

By JESSE B. GILL

Staff Writer

REDLANDS – The city’s budget will present plenty of challenges for its officials in 2010.

The city’s staff is working to close a budget gap of $3.4 million by the end of the fiscal year June 30. After making deep cuts to balance the budget since 2007, the city’s budget – and the services it funds – will again keep city staff and the City Council busy trying to find solutions this year.

“(Our challenge is) anything we can do to stabilize our financial picture and create the ability to forecast the return of revenues,” said Councilman Pete Aguilar.

In December, the City Council approved $669,902 in cuts from city departments to go toward closing the gap.

The city is also slated to use more than $1 million in unreserved fund balance money toward its deficit, which was approved by the City Council in July.

City staff still needs to find more than $80,000 in cuts to close the budget shortfall.

“Managing the budget will be one of the challenges the city faces this year,” said Mayor Pat Gilbreath. “We want to control it so we can maintain quality of life and provide the services the residents expect.”

And with sales tax revenue down along with the city’s other major streams of cash, maintaining services could be a challenge.

“Our biggest challenge is dealing with continually declining revenue,” said Mayor Pro Tem Jerry Bean. “It doesn’t leave much room for creative government.”

With no money, Bean said, the council won’t be able to do the things it wants to do to make Redlands a better place. The council will instead have to focus on holding the line and keeping service levels from dipping too low.

But the councilmembers had hoped that 2009 could have been the low point for the crashing economy and revenues could start to inch their way back in 2010.

“I’m an optimist,” Gilbreath said. “I see signs that the economy is surviving.”

Gilbreath said she expects the local economy to rebound around 2012.

“Everything seems to be pointing that direction,” she said.

Bean said the council and city staff could start planning this year for better economic times that could be around the corner.

Councilman Mick Gallagher commended the Redlands Chamber of Commerce for helping lure restaurants like Romano’s and The Old Spaghetti Factory to Redlands. The new eateries not only bring in business and revenue, but they could also have farther-reaching effects, he said.

“We want to keep looking at Redlands as the place to be so these office spaces that have been built can be filled and we can collect that property tax,” Gallagher said.

But the city’s budget won’t be the lone sources of challenges in 2010.

Near the tail end of the year, the city will have the chance to elect new City Council members or keep the incumbents for another four years.

But one longtime council member’s name won’t be on the ballot in November.

In December, Gilbreath announced that 2010 would be her last year serving on the City Council. Her term expires in November and she will not seek re-election.

Gilbreath is running for for the 63rd State Assembly seat in June.

If she wins the race, Gilbreath could leave Redlands in the middle of 2010, leaving the mayoral duties to Bean for the rest of the year.

Aguilar said the proposed Walmart Supercenter could pose some challenges for the city in 2010.

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