Merced holds up homeless, firefighters as budget concerns

A Merced budget study session to look at the “big picture,” according to city staff, had the City Council on Monday talking about adding firefighters and finding ways to deal with the homeless.

The first of at least two sessions introduced the council to some of the numbers forecast by the city staff and economic experts for the coming fiscal year.

Brad Grant, the city’s finance director, said the city ended the last fiscal year with a general fund of $32.5 million. But the city is still working to get back to where it was before the Great Recession, with the general fund at $39.3 million in 2007.

“Even though we keep hearing things are better, the money hasn’t showed yet,” Grant said.

The coming fiscal year will require the city to increase salaries, benefits, retirement and other expenses. Grant stressed that the forecast is only a tool to help the City Council plan and is not a firm budget.

He projected the council will have roughly $750,000 in general fund dollars that it could use on new programs or staff.

City Manager John Bramble updated the council on its priorities from the past two years. He said the city has made progress on developing incentives to attract food processors, called “wet users.” The city is also working on incentives for the UC Merced-run business accelerator and the University Industrial Park, among other projects.

In the past year, the council has talked about the best way to attract business and industry to Merced. High on its list of priorities has been the development of industrial parks, such as those near Merced Municipal Airport and Campus Parkway.

During Monday’s meeting, Councilman Kevin Blake said he wanted the council to discuss ways to eliminate brownouts, a policy used by Merced Fire Department that attempts to solve low staffing and budget issues by leaving one three-person fire engine company unstaffed for as much as a full shift. “I think it’s a major public safety issue,” he said.

The council has made changes in past years to cut back on the frequency of brownouts, but they still continue.

The study session is not only a time to shuffle priorities, but also a time to add new ones.

Mayor Stan Thurston said he wanted sidewalk replacement on the list. He pointed to the town hall-style meetings from the past few weeks, where the condition of sidewalks was a popular topic. “I think we’ve ignored that far too long,” he said.

Councilman Mike Murphy also asked for a new priority to be added to the list – panhandling. Along with adding more services to aid the homeless, he said he wanted to see some efforts to squash panhandling downtown. “It is time we give this some serious thought and resources,” he said.

City staff said the second study session will delve further into the budget for public safety.

The Merced Police Department currently has 84 sworn officers, with a few openings still to fill. Even after hiring for those spots, the department would have fewer officers than the 2007 peak of 111.

The second priority session is scheduled for 5:30 p.m. Feb. 23 at City Hall. The council can decide if more meetings are necessary.

This story was originally published February 9, 2015 at 7:38 PM with the headline "Merced holds up homeless, firefighters as budget concerns."