30% employee salary reduction sought
CALEXICO — City officials are proposing an across-the-board 30 percent employee salary reduction as a cost saving measure to help the financially struggling city, which is facing a projected $3 million deficit for the 2016-2017 fiscal year.
The request came Friday during a meeting between the city manager, interim Finance Department director and members of the city’s different employee bargaining units.
Details of the proposed salary reduction were scarce, with some bargaining unit representatives choosing not to comment, noting the preliminary stages of the talks. Similarly, a request for comment from the city manager’s office was not responded to.
Although Calexico police Officer Sean Acuña was not present at Friday’s meeting, the Calexico Police Officers Association president said that he was briefed on what had taken place.
Currently, POA officials are negotiating with the city to find other ways to help offset the city’s operational costs and expenses, and have floated the idea of department personnel taking furloughs and rescheduling salary adjustments, he said.
“I think (the 30 percent salary cut) is a hasty approach to consider at this time,” Acuña said.
The POA has been informally negotiating with the city for several months now in an effort to cut expenses, but both sides have seen little progress on account of a lack of financial documents that detail the city’s and department’s revenue and expenses for the past few years.
Acuña was also quick to note that the department is no longer spending an approximate $1 million in overtime as in years past and currently has a police chief that is making less than the annual $250,000 its former police was getting.
Additional citywide savings also have been realized as a result of several departments operating without directors, he said. And city officials should reconsider recent decisions to waive and/or reduce various fees related to parking, business licenses and economic development.
“Hopefully, as we continue to negotiate we can come to an agreement that benefits the city, the CPD and the citizens of Calexico,” Acuña said.
Payroll expenses are projected to account for the about $13 million of the city’s fiscal year 2016-2017 general fund budget of about $17.3 million, according to financial reports previously provided by the city.
The city’s 70 public safety employees will average about $133,000 in annual salary and benefits for the coming fiscal year, while its 74 non-public safety employees will average about $98,000, the city previously reported.
The city is also projecting about $5 million in operational costs, and $1 million in debt services payments in 20162017.
A series of bonds, as well as their subsequent refinancing, over the past 25 years has saddled the city with debt service payments that are draining city coffers, said Mayor Joong Kim.
More recently, city coffers have also seen stagnant growth partly as the result of continuous Mexican peso devaluations, he said.
Ultimately, the city’s financial troubles are the result of poor administration and accounting practices, Kim said.
“They failed to do their job right,” he said, referring to past administrators.
Today, the City Council will discuss and possibly approve a resolution borrowing $3 million from its enterprise fund to help shore up the projected $3 million 2015-2016 deficit.
The city can borrow from the enterprise fund, as long as it enacts a payment plan as well, Kim said, noting that the city will be left without any similar borrowing options for the 2016-2017 fiscal year.
The council today will also discuss and possibly approve a resolution that would cancel the temporary reduction in parking meter, business licenses and economic development fees.
Staff Writer Julio Morales can be reached at 760-337-3415 or at jmorales@ivpressonline.com