PASO ROBLES, Calif- The city of Paso Robles is projecting more money in their future! Within the last four years the city has cut their spending from 34-million down to 24-million.
City Manager Jim App says, "we did that by significant staff reduction, we've eliminated about 35 percent our workforce." Now at this reduced level, App says that any up tick in revenue shows as a surplus.
App, "over the five years ending June 30th, 2016, we project over 3-million dollars more coming in we are presently spending." A lot of that money is from cut backs but it is also from the blooming wine businesses and new commercial retailers.
Now there is a list of priorities for the projected surplus of the general fund money. One of the cities top priorities is to maintain the roads at 80 percent of new condition, but that would cost the city over 3-million dollars a year, something the city just doesn't have. So the city council opted for, App, "they chose, or the majority of them chose to do more aggressive pot hole repair program would be productive so they identified some money."
Two other priorities high on the list are adding a police officer to combat the drug problem in the city, as well as more training for paramedics and firefighters.
Paso Robles city council will be meeting tonight to go over their financial plan.
