San Carlos, a Silicon Valley suburb that calls itself the City of Good Living, will hire contractors to maintain parks and negotiate with county officials to take over policing, becoming the latest California community eliminating basic services to close budget deficits.
Measures passed by the City Council last night may save the community of 28,000 residents about $2.5 million a year, according to Mayor Randy Royce. San Carlos faces a $3.5 million deficit for the fiscal year that begins July 1, on a budget of $25.8 million.
About 70 percent of U.S. municipalities are cutting jobs to cope with declining tax revenue, according to a survey published last month by the National League of Cities in Washington. One in five communities cut public-safety spending and revised union contracts, and almost one-quarter reduced health care.
San Carlos’s council voted 4-1 to pursue discussions with the San Mateo County Sheriff’s Department on taking over the 32- member police force for the city located 24 miles (39 kilometers) south of San Francisco, according to Royce.
Taking over policing may produce annual savings of $2 million, he said. Council members also chose to replace seven parks department jobs by hiring companies to cut grass and clean restrooms. That will save $500,000 a year, according to the San Carlos website.
‘Growing Trend’
“It is a growing trend,” said Frank Benest, a former city manager in nearby Palo Alto, California, who’s now a consultant to local governments. “Cities and counties are looking for ways of delivering services at a lower cost. A lot of the easy cuts have already been made.”
GO HERE to read more.
DelMarVa's Premier Source for News, Opinion, Analysis, and Human Interest Contact Publisher Joe Albero at alberobutzo@wmconnect.com or 410-430-5349
6 comments:
All this boils down to is giving illegals jobs.
Your tax cuts at work.
This has nothing to do with giving illegals jobs or tax cuts. When the private job sector shrinks and the social services recipients grow, there are fewer people funding the public job sector and increased expenses. If Ireton disbanded the SPD and contracted that service from the County, he could save some money. He wouldn't even have to name a new Police Chief either?
Hmmmmm....
Screw California let them lay in their own filth .
Fewer cops will result in longer response times, and cops being more over worked. So there will be less proactive work, less community oriented police work, less visibility and it will all result in more crime.... then they'll have to hire more cops. Sounds like a brilliant idea.
"Fewer cops will result in longer response times"
If Salisbury contracted the County there would simply be fewer Police administrative people.
Post a Comment