‘Doing less with less.’ Turlock budget troubles increase amid coronavirus pandemic
Turlock residents could lose city services after officials compensate for the coronavirus crisis causing a multi-million dollar budget deficit next fiscal year.
After a series of cuts to non-essential services before the pandemic hit, the City Finance Department is wrestling with the projected $4 million shortfall for the 2020-21 budget and the City Council’s instruction to avoid dipping into reserve funds.
Revenue projections could change before the council is scheduled to vote on the budget on June 9, but City Manager Toby Wells warned that Turlock already has about a 10% vacancy rate for general fund positions, which includes public safety and parks and recreation jobs.
“Doing more with less is not an option any longer,” Wells said at a budget workshop meeting last week. “This is doing less with less. If the direction is balance the budget for fiscal year 2020 to 2021 using no fund balance, there’s no other option but reducing services further.”
Going into the pandemic, Turlock was also short on its required general fund reserve, or rainy day fund. A 2011 council resolution mandates the city keep $6.5 million in reserve, but it was about $64,000 under that last June and is projected to be $655,000 under next month. With a recession looming, Mayor Amy Bublak joined Council Member Becky Arellano in strongly opposing using reserves to compensate for losses.
“While we are in a pandemic, my concern is that we have to figure out what that bottom line looks like without any additional help from the reserve,” Bublak said at the meeting. “Because the reserve is really not that strong and we haven’t seen what this recession is going to do to us.”
The Finance Department projected $43 million in expenditures for the fiscal year beginning July 1, compared to $39 million in revenues, which is a reduction of about $2 million compared to the 2018-19 year. Those estimates do not account for the California State University system continuing online instruction in the fall, however. Less activity at Stanislaus State will be a “significant burden” to Turlock’s budget, Bublak said.
Even so, budget troubles could be alleviated by a city sales tax measure if the council moves forward with it and residents vote to pass it in November. A half percent sales tax could generate an estimated $6.5 million for the city of Turlock, Wells said, and go toward essential services. The City Council is scheduled to discuss the potential ballot measure in a public meeting on May 27, about three months after officials reviewed results from a community poll on the issue.
As the end of this fiscal year approaches, Wells said the finance department will also determine whether Turlock made any savings compared to projections. In the meantime, the department will create a few different options for the 2020-21 budget, Bublak said at the meeting.
The public’s next opportunity to comment on the budget situation will be during the regular May 26 council meeting. The city posts information on how to comment via telephone or Zoom on its website.
