When the Going Gets Tough The City Raises Your Fees
Tonight the City has its first of two annual budget review special meetings. Have you ever known a government agency that proposed cutbacks during tough economic times? Of course not. And it really helps when you can incorporate “revenue enhancements” with out raising taxes. It’s called fee increases. And that’s what the Fullerton city staff is proposing:
OPERATING BUDGET CAPITAL IMPROVEMENT PROGRAM:
Mayor opens public hearings for the proposed 2009-11 operating budget City and Redevelopment Agency Fee increases for the:
Parks and Recreation
Fire Department
Community Development
Engineering Department
(see page 5)
The department heads will stand up, hats in hand, and request that the City Council increase fees that the public has to pay for certain services. Did you really expect any of these people would suggest budget cuts for their departments?
No, each department cut their expenditures by a whopping 2%. When you factor in the reversal of inflation, it comes out to less than 1% in cuts. That’s pretty serious!
Just a guy, was that a real $ cut or just a cut in unstaffed positions that lowered the budget. I’ll bet my last buck that nobody got laid off; or even gave up a step increase!
No, I don’t think it included any salary cuts or layoffs. Just the usual fluff.
What is community development? I grasp the idea of private development but who is the community and what are they developing for Fullerton?