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SLO staffers seeking $1 million fund for economic downturn

June 2, 2018

Mayor Heidi Harmon, council members Dan Rivoire, Carlyn Christianson, Aaron Gomez and Andy Pease.

The city of San Luis Obispo may set aside $1 million in a reserve that could be used to backfill the city’s general fund to prepare for a possible national recession. [Cal Coast Times]

At a 2018-2019 budget adjustment meeting next week, San Luis Obispo staffers will ask the city council to establish the reserve fund. City staff cites the possibility of a recession occurring and causing a decline in city tax revenue as the reason to stash away $1 million.

“Although it is not known, and cannot be known, when a recession will occur, predictions are that one will come during the term of this forecast given the unprecedented growth experienced at the national and local level,” a city staff report states.

City officials also cite uncertainties with projected marijuana revenues and the ability to “quickly increase cost recovery in some areas” as reasons to establish a new reserve.

San Luis Obispo officials are currently pushing for city voters to pass both a marijuana business tax and a 1 percent city sales tax hike. The pot business tax is expected to go on the Nov. 2018 ballot, while the proposed sales tax hike may go to voters in 2020.

The $1 million reserve could serve as a slight hedge against the city’s rising pension costs. As a conservative estimate, San Luis Obispo currently has about $150 million in unfunded pension liabilities.

As a result of rising pension costs, the city is facing an approximately $9 million budget shortfall over the next three years. The city is currently trying to cut its spending by $8.9 million in order to close the gap.

If approved, the $1 million reserve would come out of a projected $6.5 million surplus beyond the city’s 20 percent reserve requirement in the 2017-2018 budget. City staff calls for using $4.2 million of the remaining funds to pay down unfunded liabilities and $1.3 million to fund downtown safety measures at the Farmers’ Market.


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Its just going to pay for fat generous city workers’ pensions, which are already way too high in comparison to most of us


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“$1.3 million to fund downtown safety measures at the Farmers’ Market.” That would be for the bollards that, till they malfunction, rise up out of the pavement to halt a “terrorist” from plowing through the crowd with a gasoline tanker truck. You have to be some sort of idiot to think that’s a reasonable expenditure. A drive-through prevention could be accomplished easily by blocking streets with city trucks, of which they have many, at a fraction of this cost. But any “terrorist” (read “mentally deranged person”) could easily come up with another mode of “attack,” so the idea of “safety” with the mechanical bollards is just dumb. Farmers’ market will always be a safety crap-shoot. But, hey, this city is apparently run by the dumb, and dumber. Just spend money like crazy on whatever they want to spend it on.


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PS. In fact, more likely than a deranged truck driver is the deranged bomb-laden bicyclist, who can ride around the bollards, but it’s not socially acceptable to say any such thing about the sacred bicyclists in this town.


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There’s something a little odd about this story. Since when does SLO plan for the future? I wonder what’s really behind this move…


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With only 1M isn’t not much planning.


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Whoa… $1M isn’t much planning.


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Here is an idea that the council hasn’t considered, prepare for the downturn by reducing expenses… one way in the form of payroll and benefits.


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Here is part of a story about an Atlanta suburb with a handful pissant politicians running it. This is headed your way SLO if you keep electing what you have into office as of recent. Suck it up and enjoy your republic of greed.

The four plaintiffs in the case against Doraville include Hilda Brucker, who was summoned to municipal court in October 2016 by a court employee who said she had failed to appear for a hearing about code violations on her property. Brucker says she never received a warning or court summons and was never given a chance to correct the violations. She was nevertheless forced to defend herself against a city prosecutor who claimed she was guilty of three unabated violations, including a cracked driveway, overgrown weeds in her backyard, and a front porch with rotted boards and chipped paint.

Brucker was convicted of a misdemeanor and sentenced to a $100 fine and sixth months of probation. As conditions of her probation, Brucker was forced to report to a parole officer, avoid “alcoholic intoxication,” and cooperate with code enforcement on request. Failure to do any of these things could result in jail time. “It’s so ridiculous and ludicrous,” Brucker says in an Institute for Justice video. “No one asked me to fix the driveway. This is a neighborhood of very old driveway.

$3,000,000 is raised annually from their unapologetic greed. This is what you have to look forward to, enjoy!!


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Sounds exactly like SLO City today. They actually do this sort of stuff to people they don’t like. There are respectable citizens who’ve been hounded for years over this sort of nonsense. This city talks civility — yet it sets the WORST such example itself.


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If they were serious, they would be seeking a minimum of 151 million.


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No crap. These joker’s shouldn’t be trusted with a lemonade stand.


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How about cutting expenditures to save the million bucks for a rainy day? I want a million surplus so I am going to steal more of your money. I hate these government pukes.


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Bilking $1 million from the town while the mayor and council vote themselves raises this year. Next year they will do it again and tap into that “reserve”. Smell some SLOgate


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Why don’t they just come out and say that want more of your money and that this is only the prelude to taxing and feeing you to death after the elections. So here is everyone’s opportunity to avoid those taxes and fees when you go to the voting booth.


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