Gary Soiseth: Turlock council finds way to cut debt, improve services

Last Tuesday, four out of five Turlock council members voted in favor of my recommendations contained within a two-year budget. Based on a line-by-line analysis of the city’s funds, this budget’s central goal is to address the need to pay down Turlock’s debt, to pay lump-sum charges when it is to the city’s advantage and to slowly restore the departments that made the largest concessions during the past economic downturn.

The main component of the approved budget is eliminating some of Turlock’s liabilities, primarily the $1,839,608 remaining balance of the fire department’s Public Employees’ Retirement System side fund and the $3,600,474 remaining balance of the police department’s PERS side fund.

By using the $2.4 million proceeds from the expected sale of the old 900 N. Palm St. police station and adjacent public facilities, and using $3 million from the general fund reserve, Turlock will save about $615,000 per year in principal and interest payments. This means that, over the course of the next decade, Turlock will benefit from roughly $2 million in interest savings alone. A large portion of these savings will be used to repay the general fund reserve as quickly as possible.

At current interest rates, this outstanding debt costs the city of Turlock 7.5 percent interest annually. The newly adopted budget takes money from our general fund reserve and strategically uses it to pay down this toxic debt. By comparison, this money would earn a miniscule 0.25 percent in interest if it sat idly in the general fund reserve.

This plan still leaves the general fund reserve balance at a healthy projection of $7.8 million by year’s end.

In addition to aggressively tackling Turlock’s debt, the City Council has chosen to invest in our neglected areas of city services: from a “crack seal” contract to better preserve our roads, to the creation of a tree maintenance fund for low- and fixed-income residents, to increasing the number of sidewalks and ramps that are compliant with the Americans with Disabilities Act.

We will also be adding four dispatchers to the Emergency Communications Center and supplying equipment for the newly reinstated Street Crimes Unit. At our most-used recreation facility, the Pedretti Sports Complex, we are replacing the unreliable lighting system.

Overall, this budget places Turlock on a clear path to a balanced budget by the end of the year, while restoring the most vital needs of our fire, police, parks, recreation, public facilities and engineering departments. It also allows Turlock to avoid nearly $2 million in interest payments by paying down debt with the highest interest rate.

I ran for mayor of my hometown based on two principles: that I would offer a “clear vision” for Turlock and that this would be accomplished through bold leadership. This adopted budget is just that: clear and bold. It is this council’s responsibility to make sure taxpayer funds are used wisely. By adopting this budget, we are doing just that.

This story was originally published June 14, 2015 at 2:12 AM with the headline "Gary Soiseth: Turlock council finds way to cut debt, improve services."