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City
waffling on budget cuts
More
than $160,000 of original
$600,000 shortfall yet to be cut
By
Fred Mramor of the Desert Journal
Still
needing to find $162,300 to produce a viable budget for this fiscal year,
Truth or Consequences City Commissioners met Tuesday with representatives
from city-funded service organizations, or “sub-recipients,” to see
how much money those organizations can return to the city.
First
up was Jenny Bustamante for the Retired and Senior Volunteer Program
(RSVP), Foster Grandparent Program (FGP) and Senior Companion Program (SCP).
Bustamante
said that though RSVP requires local matching finds of 30 percent of its
total budget and so far has only 27 percent, RSVP could manage this year
with half of the $13,000 the city had allocated to the program.
Bustamante
said however any loss of city funding to the FGP and SCP programs would be
critical and would result in cutting staff hours.
Mayor
Everett Banister said the city will either have to cut more of its own
employees or cut funding to the programs. The mayor said city employees
are more important.
Commissioner
Cookie Johnson disagreed saying the city can’t cut the programs because
of federal requirements for local matching grants and that the city should
look again at eliminating all jobs created by former City Manager Sam Isom.
Fed
up with Johnson’s insistence on eliminating all Isom-created jobs,
Banister said, “We can go on and on about Sam Isom’s hires, it’s
time to get off it. We should consider (job) cuts regardless of who
hired.”
Speaking
for the Domestic Abuse Intervention Center, Bobby Parks said he’s in the
same position the city is in. Parks said DAIC this year lost $32,000 in
state funding and that he has cut his own salary in half and can no longer
afford a victim’s advocate.
Parks
said, however, DAIC could survive this year with half of the $10,000 the
city had allocated to the program if the city can provide office space and
save DAIC its rent expense. But commissioners said they have no such space
available and are now seeking additional space for city staff.
Parks
told commissioners that according to District Judge Edmund Kase, if DAIC
can’t provide services to victims of domestic abuse, the city must.
Commissioner
Lois Reaver-Black said DAIC is critical fro the community’s health and
safety and that the city should do all it can to help victims of domestic
abuse and their children.
Reaver-Black
said she would like to look at all other possible city budget cuts before
cutting DAIC’s funding.
Sierra
Joint Office on Aging Director Ken James told commissioners his agency
requested $27,500 in state funding but was awarded only $25,000 to be
matched by the city. James said he has had to spend some of his own money
when fund-raising events did not produce expected amounts.
Commissioner
Johnson said it is a pet peeve of many in the community that Cadillacs are
parked outside SJOA’s meal site where the luxury car owners get free
meals. Johnson asked if SJOA could charge for the meals.
James
said SJOA cannot charge persons over 60 for meals regardless of their
income. He added that seniors’ spouses of any age also will eat for
free. He said SJOA suggests a $1.50 donation for each meal though the cost
for each meal is estimated at $4.75.
James
said that from the experiences of other senior programs, requesting larger
donations would result in fewer people coming to the meal site and lower
total donations.
James
said that even people who drive Cadillacs are lonely and that the SJOA’s
meal site and other activities provide seniors with an opportunity to meet
and mingle and probably saves the community half a million dollars each
year in mental health care costs.
James
pleaded that some of SJOA’s Senior Transportation vans need to be
repaired or replaced but admitted that some seniors who have their own
cars call for rides.
“A
free ride and a free meal,” Mayor Banister remarked.
Commissioner
Reaver-Black said seniors have it pretty good with rides provided to them
for shopping and other activities both in town and Las Cruces.
Reaver-Black
complained that shopping trips to Las Cruces, provided in part by the City
of T or C, cuts into the city gross receipts tax revenues.
James
said seniors after buying medications much more cheaply in Las Cruces can
spend the money they’ve saved in T or C.
Sierra
County Economic Development Organization (SCEDO) Director Lane Pack said
that by cutting back on advertising and promotion, he can cut his
city-provided budget of $35,525 to $20,000 to manage the Civic Center this
year.
Pack
cautioned against city staff running the Civic Center because he said they
will not advertise or promote the facility at all. He said also he doesn't
think the city can save any more money by returning management of the
Civic Center to city staff.
Pack
suggested that to save on wear and tear, the Civic Center should be
reserved for conventions and other events for which SCEDO and the city can
charge higher fees than local users can pay.
He
said the Civic Center should be the city’s showplace and that the Youth
Center (formerly Convention Center) should be used more for parties, grad
bashes and other local events.
As
for cutting any of the city’s $25,000 allocation to SCEDO for its
primary mission of attracting business and fostering economic development
in T or C and Sierra County, Pack said “Now is not the time.”
“Results
are just on the horizon,” Pack said, reminding commissioners that T or C
is one of three New Mexico communities that could soon be the location of
a call center that will employ 100 persons with wages starting at $8 an
hour plus benefits.
Pack
said also he has come to be well known around the state as SCEDO’s
director and that if he is unable to continue attending seminars and
making the rounds, it will take someone else a year to reestablish
contacts for T or C and Sierra County.
After
Pack left the meeting, SCEDO Administrative Assistant Claudia Paine said
that though SCEDO is operating on a “bare bones” budget as it is,
SCEDO might be able to cut back by 10 percent.
Commissioners
made no decisions Tuesday but will consider funding cuts to local service
organizations and other cost-savings measures at their workshop and
regular meeting on Tuesday, Oct. 9.
Commissioner
Nadyne Gardner described the city’s financial situation as a
“festering sore” and said the city “has its foot drawn back to kick
the chair out from under people.”
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