Tuesday, Dec. 28, 2010 • City approves payroll, but warns of impending financial woes

The Susanville City Council held a special meeting to pass a resolution to meet the payroll for all city employees in light of a Memorandum of Understanding on Wednesday, Dec. 22, and while the resolution passed, it came with a warning from the council.

“I know there’s some time frame, and I’m not sure what that time frame is, where we alert our employees of an impending action on our part,” Councilmember Joe Franco said. “Either it be furlough, layoffs cutting hours, job-sharing. Because I think its time for us to send a very clear message to the union that we have to play hardball. We have to do something to balance the budget and get the cash that we need in the account that we need to operate, and we’re mandated to do so.”

City Counsel Peter Talia said the city had no choice but to play hardball.

“Taken in isolation, ‘hardball’ wouldn’t be the right word, but taken in our current financial situation, it is the right word,” Talia said in response to Franco.

Franco said it must be dealt with as soon as possible, because he didn’t want the legacy of the city council under its current leadership to be one of bankruptcy.

Talia gave a brief, yet up to date snapshot of the city’s current financial situation for the council.

“We’ve received $983,000, and we expect at least another $400,000 from property taxes,” Talia said at the Dec. 22 meeting. “Right now, our cash in the bank is $1,491,516. With the negative enterprise funds we discussed at the (Dec. 15) meeting, the closing of childcare, the golf and the airport we have a negative of $834,265.64. The general fund, with the 20 percent reserve and everything else it’s supposed to have is $657,251.20 as of this morning.”

Talia explained to councilmember Doug Sayers the $983,000 the city received was purely from sales tax and vehicle license fees.

Franco asked Talia even with this influx of cash to the city, it still doesn’t look like the money will hold out until the next beginning of the next fiscal year in June.

The council voted 4-1 (with Franco as the lone dissenting vote) to approve the payroll, but also directed Talia to have notification ready for a possible resolution at the upcoming Jan. 5 meeting to inform city employees of the potential cutbacks. The approved payroll resolution will be in effect until March 31, 2011, and since Talia and City Clerk Debra Magginetti said employees were required to be notified 90 days prior to any sort of cutback, layoff, furlough etc., Talia said the council would still be along the appropriate timeline.