Amador County – The Sutter Creek City Council finance and budget committees was looking Tuesday at ways to cut the budget by $150,000 to erase a city budget deficit. Mayor Gary Wooten told TSPN Tuesday that layoffs could happen before the New Year, but it was just one of several solutions the council considered to trim funding deficits. Wooten said the city was about a half a million dollars in the red, and with a $3 million budget, that was quite a big piece of that pie. The council adjusted the budget to absorb a $350,000 dollar shortfall earlier this year, but found that revenue trailed budgeted projections by another $150,000. Wooten said that the biggest expenses to the city were employee salaries, where the cuts could be made with furloughs or reduced wages. He said he attended a budget meeting Tuesday and had a finance committee meeting as well and they were looking at layoffs of part-time employees, but no full-time employees. Wooten said that was his preference, but he was only one vote on the council. Sutter Creek’s newest council member, Sandra Anderson, will take the oath of office on Monday, December 15th. Anderson is a past president of the Sutter Creek Business & Professional Association, has a background in banking in Santa Cruz co-owns the Eureka Street Inn Bed & Breakfast in Sutter Creek. Sandra Anderson takes the vacated council seat of Councilman Brent Parsons, who ran for the Amador Water Agency Board of Directors seat in District 4. Wooten and Councilman Tim Murphy will take the oath of office Monday. Story by Jim Reece (This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.).