Will Turlock fund police, fire chief jobs? What to expect in upcoming budget workshop
The Turlock City Council during a budget workshop Tuesday will review proposals to fund about 40 new and previously frozen positions, including police and fire chiefs, thanks to financial windfall from Measure A.
Officials plan to finalize the budget in June, but the early discussions mark a major shift for the city that drastically reduced services over the past two fiscal years.
Staff estimated the city will collect about $11 million more revenue in the upcoming fiscal year compared to last year mainly because voters passed the sales tax measure in November. The circumstances are in sharp contrast with how the council froze a total of 35 formerly vacant positions since June 2019, Senior Accountant Nadine Silva wrote in the council staff report. Officials cut the budgets after a previous council approved spending that drew down the general fund reserves.
“Fiscal Year 2021-2022 will be the first opportunity in more than a decade to begin reinstating services as a result of new revenues,” Silva said in the report.
Staff are proposing a general fund spending plan of about $49 million, which they estimate costs about $5.5 million more than a status quo budget. Part of the difference includes requests to add 16 new positions and unfreeze 25 positions, according to a list in the meeting agenda packet.
Unfreezing and hiring the police chief and fire chief positions cost about $323,000 and $308,000 annually, per the report. The fire department is also requesting to restore its previously cut overtime budget and hire three firefighters and a deputy fire marshal. Interim Chief Gary Carlson in February said the department relied on $1.2 million in CARES Act funding to maintain staffing levels this fiscal year and avoid partially closing at least one fire station per day.
The fire department has gone without a permanent chief since the council fired Robert Talloni in June 2019, while two police captains have taken turns serving as interim chief since Nino Amirfar’s retirement in October. Besides chief, the police department is requesting funding to unfreeze two community service officers, two dispatchers and one records technician positions. The department is also requesting about $150,000 for its overtime budget and to resume replacing police vehicles, which the city has put on hold for the past two years.
If the council approves the budget requests, Turlock may also hire finance and administrative services directors. Administrative services currently consists of finance, purchasing, human resources, information technology and payroll, but has lacked a department head since September 2019. Staff are recommending the city create a separate finance department and hire a leader.
Turlock needs the two director positions, staff wrote in the report, to meet deadlines and ensure accurate financial records. Finance staff currently work overtime and auditors also recommend hiring another accountant, too.
Proposals on how to spend any funds from American Rescue Plan, the federal government’s latest pandemic relief effort, do not appear in reports for Tuesday’s workshop. Turlock could receive $16 million from the plan, The Bee previously reported.
The budget workshop is scheduled for 5 p.m. Tuesday. The public can participate in-person at 156 South Broadway or via Zoom.
