Amador County – Ione City Council heard Tuesday that layoffs or other reduction to staff costs is imminent for the city to cope with a $500,000 reduction in the general fund budget.

Interim City Manager Jeff Butzlaff said he is trying to have compassion for employees, and “we’re living this,” trying every day to get a handle on this.

Jim Nevin criticized a request by the city manager for a 60-day extension on a spending authorization. He said the city has gone 110 days without a budget and not made one cut. Nevin called for action and cuts.

Butzlaff later told Nevin, “this is no time for puffery,” but agreed that it was time for action. He said the extension would allow more discussion with employees on how to handle cuts. He said $307,000 in General Fund reductions can be accomplished without layoffs or retirements, though part of it is furloughs offered from six Service Employees International Union employees. “We still need a $250,000 to $300,000 reduction in General Fund expenditures and the only way we can do that is with staff reductions” and cuts to employee and labor costs.

Butzlaff said the financial director is a “mission critical” employee at this time, leaving four employees nearer to retirement age subject to possible early retirement, which could save $320,000. If retirements are not taken, the city must look at layoffs of 4-5 employees, those “last in” being the “first out,” per classification, which would cut about $230,000.

Department cuts offered last week, included $144,000 in Ione Police Department; $80,000 by six SEIU employees; $13,000 by the finance manager; $32,000 to eliminate operation of the city swimming pool; and $25,000 in reductions to Ione Fire Department staffing. Butzlaff said he and Fire Chief Ken Mackey found that they could extend Measure M money to cover all personnel costs, and free-up $25,000 in General Fund money. He said Mackey feared affecting the department’s reserves, but they found it would not be impacted.

Butzlaff said he and staff have not been sitting on their hands but have been trying to be as productive as possible. The “bottom line is, we need to implement personnel reductions in some form or another.”

Plank said it is a difficult subject and thought Butzlaff’s approach was good. Butzlaff said the city must establish an annual reduction of about $600,000. But if the General Fund still loses ground, there could be a need for more reductions. The General Fund lost half a million dollars in the last year.

Story by Jim Reece This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.