Santa Fe Springs : $300,000 in Cuts Approved as Budgetary ‘Precaution’
The City Council has approved $300,000 in budget cuts, scrapping plans for two new transit vehicles, two bus shelters, a traffic signal and a fair at Heritage Park.
City Manager Don Powell said that despite the cutbacks Santa Fe Springs is in good financial shape. “There’s no budget crisis. This is just a very conservative move,” he said.
Mayor Al Sharp lobbied for the cuts, claiming that the city should trim programs rather than dip into its $12.8-million reserve fund to make up for an anticipated revenue shortfall. A report last fall found that there could be a $1.3-million deficit in this fiscal year’s $31.3-million budget.
Powell said, however, that the report exaggerated the city’s budget problem and that, with the cuts, the deficit will be $400,000 at most. He called the cutbacks a wise “precaution,” given the potential impact of the drought on the city’s economy. Many industries in Santa Fe Springs require a lot of water and would be hurt by a stringent rationing program, he said.
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