Turlock finishes $50,000 ahead

Thanks to scrimping and saving, the city of Turlock closed the books on the 2010-11 fiscal year with a surplus of $50,000 in the general fund.

That may not sound that impressive, but city officials had prepared to be $2.2 million in the hole.

So, City Manager Roy Wasden said, employees who took pay cuts to help balance the budget will get some of the money back.

Starting next week and through June 15, the city will restore 4.5 percent of the 9 percent cuts.

Some of those cuts came in the form of salary reductions; employees also contributed more to their pensions.

Wasden said the city's agreements with its unions called for restoring some of the money if the general fund ended the year whole.

— Patty Guerra