$5.6 million for Turlock road repairs: City Council OKs budget boosted by tax revenue
Turlock residents could see the city spend $5.6 million of local sales tax revenue to fix roads through June 2022, per the budget officials approved Tuesday.
In the 2021-2022 budget beginning July 1, the Turlock City Council designated half of expected Measure A revenues for roads and approved plans to fund a few vacant positions, including police and fire chiefs.
Despite the $11 million in additional revenue compared to last fiscal year, officials are continuing to freeze 32 positions, which is down from 35 in 2020-2021. Measure A, passed by voters in November, accounts for most of the revenue boost after the council passed major spending cuts the past two years. But the city also plans to add two new general fund positions as part of the $49.3 million budget: a finance director and purchasing technician.
The council passed the budget 3-2 on Tuesday, with Council members Nicole Larson and Andrew Nosrati dissenting. Both opposed how the adopted budget allocates enough money for the fire department to staff all four stations through mid-to-late October. Interim Fire Chief Gary Carlson said Acting City Manager Sarah Eddy directed him to come back to the council after the first fiscal quarter and ask how to proceed.
“These potential browning outs, having an SUV where we’re only partially staffing our departments is going to happen much quicker than we can tend to,” Larson said in the meeting. “I think we should prioritize fully funding that and then addressing that issue with our fire operation being fully funded.”
Nosrati compared the budget to asking the fire department to beg for money. Mayor Amy Bublak disagreed, pointing out that every department head thinks they are not adequately staffed for the year. Through this budget and amending it as needed, Bublak said the council aims to be responsible with taxpayer dollars, especially after Measure A passed amid the coronavirus pandemic.
“We are going to be accountable to the public and the department heads are going to tell us what they need in advance,” Bublak said. “They’re not going to be begging for it because that’s an inappropriate desire here. We’re trying to make sure we provide the essential services to the residents as they wish.”
Council Members Pam Franco and Rebecka Monez likewise said they do not intend to shut down any fire stations.
Turlock council OKs hiring department heads
Overall, the general fund budget lays out plans to hire four department director or chief positions. Carlson has filled the fire chief position on an interim basis since June 2018, while two police captains have taken turns as interim chiefs since October 2020. To fund the top posts, Turlock is defunding one of the police captain positions and the fire operations chief job, which Carlson served as before the city fired former Chief Robert Talloni.
The first finance director will lead the newly created finance department, which the council is separating from the administrative services department beginning July 1. Lastly, the budget includes unfreezing the administrative services director position.
But Nosrati expressed concern over the leadership plans, saying the budget should reflect hiring a permanent city manager as a top priority.
“We’ve got to make investments in strategic planning and stabilizing our leadership across the board,” Nosrati said. “Instability across this organization is why when I ask questions about the costs of legal services, we don’t know the answer because we’re having turnover in positions that are supposed to be watchful of this organization.”
To recruit a city manager, Larson motioned to amend the budget to add an additional $25,000 for funds earmarked for hiring other administrative positions. Instead of voting on Larson’s amendment, the council directed city staff to look into a request for proposals from recruiting services.
This story was originally published June 10, 2021 at 5:00 AM.
