Voice of OC (https://voiceofoc.org/tag/budget-cuts/)
As the window rapidly closes on they city’s chances to prevent bankruptcy by 2018, council members will meet Wednesday to pass a 2016-17 budget and again debate whether the path forward should be shaped by a tax increase or major spending cuts.
The city is facing a long-term deficit of $12.6 million and is on track to spend through its reserves in three years. Yet there is little appetite on council for either more budget cuts or tax increases.
Robin Roberts said she became a target of Councilwoman Margie Rice and other officials after she complained about potential Brown Act violations, unreported campaign contributions and conflicts of interest.
City leaders were able to draw from a general fund reserve to pay off a $5.3 million deficit this year, but time is running out for them to come up with a long-term financial strategy.
New books and Sunday hours could be in the offing for one of the worst-funded city library systems in the state.
The city is widely known as the center of Vietnamese-American culture and politics, but budget realities are forcing city leaders to seek a broader and more profitable identity.
After a sharp rebuke, supervisors accept an across-the-board 5-percent cut in hopes of resolving a $147-million property tax dispute.
The governor and state Senate Democrats have abandoned an effort to gut the law that provides public’s access to government records.
While officials won’t name finalists, it’s clear the new city manager’s salary won’t be close to what the outgoing city manager is earning.
Gerardo Mouet, Santa Ana’s Parks, Recreation and Community Services director, talks about how his department has rolled with the budget punches in recent years and reinvented itself.