Camarillo, California – The City of Camarillo is approaching budget preparations for FY2020/21 with the mindset of efficiency and innovation—looking not only at levels of services and expenditures, but taking a critical look at staffing to ensure the City is well positioned with the right number of people doing the right work.
At a Special City Council Meeting on April 29, 2020, City staff provided preliminary insights into the budget development process for fiscal year 2020/2021, seeking guidance and direction from the Camarillo City Council on a preliminary budget that includes the services, programs, and operations appropriate to match the reduced revenues the City expects to experience during the economic recovery phase in the upcoming fiscal year and in subsequent years.
Interim City Manager, Tully Clifford, provided a brief introduction to the City Council before the presentation by City staff. “Over the years, the Camarillo City Council has done an outstanding job protecting the financial interests of the City, while at the same time providing high levels of service in all our programs and operations,” Mr. Clifford said. “We will continue to keep the water flowing, manage waste water, remove solid waste, provide an excellent environment for transportation, support development and redevelopment, assist businesses, provide outstanding support to our citizens, inform and engage the public, and support the quality of life our citizens, businesses and visitors expect. However, in light of the rapid decline in anticipated revenues we are reviewing levels of service and will need to make adjustments.”
Interim Finance Director, Mark Uribe, presented the preliminary budget, explaining the efforts that City staff has taken to critically analyze the levels of service provided and the revenues available in order to provide the optimal level of service to benefit the greatest number of Camarillo residents, businesses and visitors. “This is a constantly moving target,” Mr. Uribe said, speaking to the severe impact that the COVID-19 pandemic has had on the overall budget and the added challenge it has presented in trying to formulate a plan amidst a constantly changing environment with a growing economic crisis. “The financial picture is changing daily–even the economic forecasts we receive vary greatly, and the breadth and depth of the economic impact of the pandemic is speculative at best,” added Mr. Clifford.
During the almost seven-hour discussion of the preliminary budget, the City Council discussed options such as adjusting the scope of work for existing contracts, revising the capital improvement program, and trimming expenses for items such as travel and conferences and many others. The Council engaged City staff in a discussion about adjusting levels of service and providing flexibility in staffing, as the City transitions from standard municipal operation to an emergency operation and now moving into a recovery mode.
City staff did not suggest employee furloughs or layoffs, because unlike other cities, Camarillo does not have many employees in functions or programs that have been drastically reduced or eliminated due to the pandemic. Instead, Camarillo is looking at holding the line on employee increases. “What we don’t want to do is to layoff or furlough employees to solve a short term problem, without reviewing the implications over the long term,” explained Tully Clifford. “We are looking at our staffing to ensure we have the right number of people doing the right work.” In addition to their normal duties, the City may be shifting staff to assist with functions such as business recovery. City leadership continues to assess all City operations and may shift people to enhance other critical areas. Some changes may be permanent, but others may be in response to recovery activities in the short term.
The global pandemic caused by the novel coronavirus (COVID-19) is not only a public health crisis, but an economic crisis as well. The City’s budgeting process has not been business as usual and will not be business as usual into the foreseeable future.
“With careful and thoughtful budgeting the City of Camarillo should be positioned to survive the pandemic in a fairly strong position, and recover with a better understanding of the needs of our citizens and businesses,” said Mr. Clifford. We are committed to taking this opportunity to review our operations and look for ways to improve efficiencies and effectiveness. With a strategic and well-planned budget, this will result in rightsizing the organization and reduced operational costs.”
The proposed budget will be presented to the City Council on May 20, 2020 for further review and discussion, and the final budget is scheduled to be presented for City Council approval at a public hearing, currently scheduled for June 10, 2020.
Get Citizensjournal.us Headlines free SUBSCRIPTION. Keep us publishing – DONATE
