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Arroyo Grande budget shortfall leads to layoffs

June 28, 2018

Faced with a budget gap of nearly $1 million, the city of Arroyo Grande is laying off staffers and reducing the hours of operation at City Hall. [Cal Coast Times]

Arroyo Grande has a projected budget gap of $912,000 next year, according to City Manager Jim Bergman. Likewise, the city could face a $3.4 million shortfall over the next decade.

The budget gap stems from revenue sources that are not meeting projected amounts, as well as escalating pension costs, according to city staff. Bergman said it is not a mismanagement issue.

In response to the shortfall, the city of Arroyo Grande is cutting nine full-time positions. The city incentivized nine employees to take an early retirement and another two were laid off.

Starting next week, Arroyo Grande will close City Hall on Fridays.

Additionally, the city is increasing fees for programs part of the Community Development Department and Recreation Department. Those hikes include increases to sports fees.


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And you can thank Harmon, Barneich and Ray,for wasting $30,000.00 of AG taxpayer monies for their incestuous with hunt after mayor Jim Hill.


And BTW that expense was supposed to be $15,000 with half of that to be hopefully to be shared by South San District. It balooned somehow to $30K and the City Manager paid the bill BEFORE the overage was approved by the council.


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Councilmember Barneich must feel real good about having the city pay for her family’s health insurance (while her husband gets paid not to join his employer provided plan) as employees are laid off.

The city needs to look long and hard at where they can CUT, CUT, CUT.

This problem isn’t going away.

How convenient for the city manager to claim this isn’t a management problem…it absolutely 100% IS.

When expenses exceed revenue it is management’s job to turn that around. The shortfall didn’t happen over night.


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“”It’s not a mismanagement issue,” Bergman said”” Yes it is, by paying outrageous salaries and benefits and raising salaries at a unsustainable rate and thanks to management ignoring the multi-million pound pension elephant in the room for many many years. This in completely a mismanagement issue, and with the city managers statement it is clear he has no intention of doing what really needs to be done to address the problem.


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Here here! Consider this my 10 thumbs up vote!


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LIve within your means. The rest of us have to.


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But for them their “means” are just a matter of how much money they can scare out of the taxpayers. Really this doom and gloom talk is getting old, as the saying goes just rip off the band-aid, declare bankruptcy, and move forward.


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They need to cut that city street crew down. You can drive around town on any given day and see at least 5 or 6 guys just standing around….all day. Of course some will say “they’re on a break” or “waiting for supplies” but, you don’t see it like this in other similar cities!


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For some incorporated cities Friday is a day off too, check to see how the City of Taft, just over the hill, does it.


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