The Sacramento City Council’s tentative decision last week to make major cuts to public safety brings police and firefighter jobs into the spotlight. Six City Council members said they intend to raise the number of brownouts or alternating closures of fire services from two to four. While the city has no plans to lay off firefighters, the public debate over possible cuts to public safety begs the question: How much do firefighters in the city get paid? How do their benefits work? The brownouts may be part of the final budget the City Council is expected to approve on June 21. The city is facing a $39 million deficit. The Sacramento Press published a guide to police officers’ pay and be

Sacramento County elected officials approved a budget Thursday that could result in more than 200 employee layoffs, according to county budget officer Tom Burkart. These layoffs for the 2011/2012 fiscal year are in addition to the 1,299 layoffs the county has made since the 2008/2009 fiscal year, said county spokeswoman Chris Andis. She added that 1,299 people were actually laid off as opposed to job positions being cut. The Sacramento County Board of Supervisors balanced its budget for the 2011/2012 fiscal year on Thursday afternoon, closing out a $90 million shortfall. The county has a general fund of $1.9 billion and a total budget of roughly $3.5 billion. The approved budget is a f

The Sacramento City Council’s tentative decision Tuesday night to make severe budget cuts to public safety is not final, but it made a big statement. Council members voted 6-3 to say they intend to make budget cuts later this month that include layoffs of 82 sworn cops and increases in brownouts or alternating closures for fire services. A big caveat to the tentative decision is the council’s statement that it is still open to further negotiations with the city’s public safety unions. Tuesday’s hearing drew intense public interest. Many people arrived more than an hour early to the 6 p.m. meeting. Shortly before 5 p.m., about 70 people waited in line for the doors at City Hall to open.

The City of Sacramento Department of Parks and Recreation presented an oral report regarding their progress on community centers to the Parks and Recreation Commission. During the report, Parks and Recreation Director Jim Combs provided an overview of the proceedings for next Tuesday’s Council Meeting. The highlight of the meeting will be the report back on the budgets of the city’s parks, police, and fire departments. “We hear maybe 1000 to 1500 folks there attending this meeting just from the police department,” said Combs. “Then the fire department’s going to have a big crew. We know that the centers and all those communities; we’re going to have more people down there than we had las

The Sacramento City Council discussed Thursday how to make major changes to city operations in the next few years to resolve the city’s long-term imbalance where costs outpace revenues. The city’s $39 million gap for the 2011/2012 fiscal year is part of an ongoing trend of budget shortfalls. Multi-million budget gaps will remain until fiscal year 2015/2016 as a result of the city’s imbalanced finances, according to predictions by city officials. “We need to set the expectation of what the City Council wants to provide for the residents and the businesses of this city,” Interim Deputy City Manager Betty Masuoka said. Seven council members were at the budget meeting – Mayor Kevin Johnson

The Sacramento City Council is likely to make major cuts to local library services, according to a preliminary vote by council members Tuesday night. Seven of the nine City Council members voted that they intend to cut the Sacramento Public Library Authority by nearly $800,000 when they approve the city’s budget in June. The authority runs 28 libraries in Sacramento County and its proposed budget for the 2011/2012 fiscal year is $35.7 million. Councilwomen Sandy Sheedy and Angelique Ashby voted against the plan to make $792,121 in cuts to libraries next month. The City Council is expected to make widespread cuts to services to resolve a $39 million budget gap for the 2011/2012 fiscal ye

The proposed budget Sacramento County released Friday calls for major cuts to close a $90 million gap. At least 320 employee positions are proposed for cuts. It’s unclear how many of these position cuts may translate to layoffs. Interim County Executive Officer Steven Szalay’s proposed budget serves as a series of suggestions to the Board of Supervisors, which will hold votes and make decisions on the budget. “Approval of this recommended budget, with unavoidable reductions, is an important step to continue recovery from our fiscal crisis and will improve the budget picture for next year and beyond,” Szalay wrote in a document dated for the Board of Supervisors’ June 6 budget hearing.

While proposed budget cuts to public safety departments have attracted a lot of public attention, the Sacramento City Council also discussed millions of dollars in proposed budget cuts to many other offices and departments earlier this week. At a Tuesday afternoon meeting, council members examined cuts to departments and offices that include the mayor and City Council, Economic Development, Finance, Human Resources and Transportation. The city is in the throes of a budget crisis with a $39 million budget gap for the 2011/2012 fiscal year. The City Council members decided on Tuesday to give a large chunk of its budget to the city’s general fund. Council members’ budgets include revenues

Eye on Sacramento, a nonprofit Sacramento-based government watchdog organization, has recently been launched in the city of Sacramento to maintain a watchful eye on the policies and actions of the city government. “We formed EOS because we believe that too little attention is paid to the broad public interest and too much attention is paid to special interests,” said EOS President Craig Powell. “The public has little inside knowledge of what really goes on in city government. We hope to change that.” “Eye on Sacramento was started by a core group of about nine people who were active in the Campaign for Common Sense Utilities Rates (the group that sponsored Measure B on the November 2010

The city’s current budget gap of $39 million is grim. But the city’s financial situation is even more dismal when examined in the context of its budget cuts in recent years. The city has laid off about 215 employees since February 2008, according to city spokeswoman Amy Williams. In addition, the city has taken 900 positions off its books since the 2008/2009 fiscal year and cannot hire employees for those spots, according to the city budget document. The city currently has 4,576 employee positions, Williams said. Interim City Manager Bill Edgar and Interim Deputy City Manager Betty Masuoka are recommending the City Council approve an $812 million budget for the 2011/2012 fiscal year. Of

The Natomas Unified School District has declared an “impasse,” or stalemate, with the California School Employees Association, chapter 745 over labor negotiations. The district is optimistic that a state mediator will move the district and the classified staff toward reaching an agreement that, according to a press release, would “adequately address the district's fiscal crisis and avoid a state takeover.” As part of the district's overall plan to achieve these cuts and minimize their impact on students and programs, each employee group, including all administrators, has agreed to take reductions of 7.9 percent of salaries and benefits, but the CSEA has not. According to the press relea

The Sacramento City Unified School District board unanimously voted to balance the district's projected “worst-case” budget shortfall of $22.35 million by eliminating financial support for sports, drama, yearbook, newspaper, marching band, cheerleading and speech and debate. The proposal is to eliminate “extra pay for extra-duty stipends,” uniform replacements funds, athletic trainer funds and co-curricular transportation funds for a savings of $1.26 million, according to the district. Board members also voted to reduce the district’s counseling staff by 37 percent, eliminating one assistant principal position at each high school and raising K-3 class sizes at two grade levels. The boa

The California School Employees Association Chapter 745 announced last week, that its membership voted to reject the tentative agreement with the Natomas Unified School District.The agreement, if ratified, would have been a major step toward avoiding state takeover and establishing fiscal solvency for the district. On Jan. 11, the District and CSEA's Negotiations Team reached a tentative agreement with respect to furlough days for the 2011-12 school year, reflecting a 7.9 percent reduction in total compensation. After negotiating with CSEA nine times since September, district officials said they were disheartened to hear of the rejection. But to local CSEA Chief Negotiator and immediate

Close to 60 people converged on a home in the River Park neighborhood of East Sacramento Tuesday evening to mourn the reductions in the public education budget in the Sacramento area and to discuss what can be done to prevent further cuts. Educators, students, parents, political figures and concerned members of the public were all in attendance to listen to speakers, hear poetry and voice their concerns and opinions on the state of education in the community. The wake was hosted by Jim Harper, a teacher of American government and history at Laguna Creek High School and an occasional instructor at California State University, Sacramento. Harper has been teaching for 23 years and was invol

California's Democratic and Republican chairmen addressed how their parties' candidates will overcome the budget crisis if elected in November at the Capital Plaza Halls Tuesday afternoon. The lunch was hosted by the Sacramento Press Club and was attended by members of the working press, state politics, and public. Republican Party Chairman Ron Nehring and Democratic Party Chairman John Burton spoke mainly on the gubernatorial and senate elections, claiming that in the coming months it will become increasingly clear why either party has the better candidate. Among the issues addressed was that of campaign financing. With Meg Whitman's campaign likely to spend hundreds of millions of doll

I’ve learned a few lessons recently about how and why local government budgets don’t make sense. Over the past month, I’ve reported on the city budget and asked government officials and union representatives many questions about financial figures and numbers of layoffs. While the officials answered my questions, some budget figures remained nonsensical. I would like to share with The Sacramento Press' readers the following Guide to Local Government Budget Madness. Rule #1: The number of “positions” being removed is not the number of “people” being laid off. Back in May, city officials wrote that that they would cut 387 positions. The budget document said that cuts included the “unfunding

Sacramento County officials began budget hearings Tuesday with an explanation of the county's poor financial state, noting that the county is expecting an ongoing pattern of poor sales tax revenues, among other problems. The county is also facing criticism about its budgeting practices from credit rating agencies, said Nav Gill, chief operations officer for the county. The Sacramento County Board of Supervisors is addressing a $180 million budget gap in budget hearings this week. Supervisors may approve a proposed budget next week. The county’s proposed overall budget is $4.3 billion for the 2009/2010 fiscal year. The proposed general fund budget is $2.03 billion. “This budget is the mos

Sacramento County is holding hearings this week on proposed budget cuts to address a $180 million budget gap. The budget hearings are open to the public and will be held at the county Board of Supervisors’ chambers at 700 H St. The proposed overall budget for the 2009/2010 fiscal year is $4.3 billion. Sacramento County’s general fund budget is $2.03 billion. The budget document explains that a large portion of the general fund consists of the county's general purpose funds. "All other funds in the county budget are financed with earmarked or restricted revenues," the document states. A breakdown of the general fund is on page 9 of the budget’s introduction. “We’re at a very challenging

City management was not yet ready to comment at 5 p.m. Monday on the local firefighters’ union's latest proposal on pay and layoffs. Sacramento Area Firefighters Local 522 has pitched a new proposal to put salary increases on hold for the next 30 months if the city will guarantee no layoffs throughout that period of time, said Local 522 spokeswoman Robin Swanson. Swanson described the proposal as “inherently fair" and said it would bring more than $10 million in savings to the city. Acting city spokeswoman Wendy Klock-Johnson did not have an update Monday afternoon on the city’s reaction to the union’s proposal. City managers and firefighters resumed negotiations after firefighters vot

City Distributes 168 Pink Slips Many city employees learned last week that their last day of work may be June 19. The city distributed 168 pink slips Monday, June 2. The 168 figure is not set in stone. City officials said fewer people may be laid off if unions make concessions. The city is dealing with a budget deficit in excess of $43 million. Firefighters Nix Labor Agreement with City City managers and the local firefighters’ union both said Friday they are willing to head back to the bargaining table after firefighters voted down a labor deal last week. The city’s decision to distribute layoff notices to firefighters is a key dispute between city management and Sacramento Area Fire