Thursday, March 15, 2012

Mayor, unions at odds over fixes for Fresno budget - Politics - fresnobee.com

Mayor, unions at odds over fixes for Fresno budget - Politics - fresnobee.com


In an afternoon meeting with The Bee's editorial board, Swearengin and Scott moved the talk far away from the fiscal-emergency declarations and Chapter 9 bankruptcy threats that have made the city of Stockton a national example of financial incompetence.
At the same time, Swearengin and Scott drew a line in the sand for the city's 3,200 employees, implying that the Stockton scenario isn't far-fetched for Fresno for these reasons:
Three years of incessant layoffs, service reductions and penny-pinching haven't done the trick.
The city will struggle to close a $2.1 million general fund budget gap in the fiscal year ending June 30, let alone the huge gap projected over the next five years.
The revenue picture is flat -- sales-tax proceeds up a bit more than expected, property-tax proceeds down a bit more -- and Fresno is stuck in a farm-based economy traditionally slow to come out of recessions.

Read more here: http://www.fresnobee.com/2012/03/12/2757376/fresno-mayor-lays-out-financial.html#storylink=cpy#storylink=cpy

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