Wendy Leung, Staff Writer
Posted: 01/20/2010 09:26:56 PM PST
RANCHO CUCAMONGA – The city is looking for ways to cut its budget deficit by a third as a response to sales-tax and other revenue shortfalls.
During a midyear budget review on Tuesday, the City Council directed City Manager Jack Lam to look for ways to trim the budget by about $1.2 million without affecting services.
City staff members are expected to present money-saving measures that are available in 30 days.
Lam said the move was akin to “squirrels counting nuts before preparing for winter.”
“The recession will end sometime,” he said. “It’s a matter of how long we have to wait this out.”
After 21/2 years of cuts, the city now has little leeway to slash the operational budget.
Lam said the city will look into contract negotiations with vendors, grant reassignment and other measures to help close a $3.6 million gap.
“We’ve gone through three rounds of cutting, and we’re getting toward scraping the bottom here,” Lam said. “We don’t know where the bottom is. We’ll do this last scrape.”
Sales-tax revenue, a key source for the general fund, has dropped significantly lower than expected. In the second and third quarters of 2009, sales-tax revenue dipped 16 percent and 15 percent, respectively, far worse than the original projection of 5 percent.
Figures from the fourth quarter, which are expected to be released in March, will determine if the city will look to cutting services.
“You can only go so many years … without affecting services,” Lam said.
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Note that they are looking to make cuts, not maintain the status quo and raise revenues with Cockamamie “newly developed and necessary” government services that have just come to light! Lets see if this city truly will live within it’s means. I fear our County government will not be so forthright.