Residents worried about proposed Palm Springs budget cuts

City officials in Palm Springs went into detail about the possible budget cuts the city may need to make if voters don’t approve on a tax increase on the November ballot.

Some people at Tuesday’s meeting were upset the city allowed itself to be put in this position.City Manager Dr. David Ready went over a detailed explanation of what the city’s budget subcommittee is recommending to to make up a funding loss from the state and to cover pension costs from CalPERS, the state’s public employees retirement system.

If Measure D, a ballot measure that would increase the city’s sales tax by a half cent, does not pass, 22 programs and services could be on the chopping block.

{“url”:”https://twitter.com/JoeGalliNews/status/912848260716404736″,”author_name”:”Joe Galli”,”author_url”:”https://twitter.com/JoeGalliNews”,”html”:”&#lt;blockquote class=”twitter-tweet”&#gt;&#lt;p lang=”en” dir=”ltr”&#gt;City Council unable to vote electronically and don’t have timer for public comment. Still some bugs to work out after remodel of chambers. &#lt;a href=”https://t.co/jqOH1tUUsT”&#gt;pic.twitter.com/jqOH1tUUsT&#lt;/a&#gt;&#lt;/p&#gt;– Joe Galli (@JoeGalliNews) &#lt;a href=”https://twitter.com/JoeGalliNews/status/912848260716404736″&#gt;September 27, 2017&#lt;/a&#gt;&#lt;/blockquote&#gt;n&#lt;script async src=”//platform.twitter.com/widgets.js” charset=”utf-8″&#gt;&#lt;/script&#gt;”,”width”:550,”height”:null,”type”:”rich”,”cache_age”:”3153600000″,”provider_name”:”Twitter”,”provider_url”:”https://twitter.com”,”version”:”1.0″}

“I think the community needs it these are the things that the people who pay the taxes deserve to have,” said Phyllis Bloom, who is worries about losing a senior dance program held at the Palm Springs Pavilion.

Since the city announced the possible cuts there has been uproar from folks who use these programs, something council members are hearing loud and clear.

“It just concerns me that we are very specific about the cuts we are going to make, when we are not making those cuts right now. And I understand when we get there we will have to be more specific,” said J.R. Roberts, Palm Springs City Council member.“We are not going to make the decision now we won’t know if we have to make it until after November but it is also really good that we are getting input from residents about their priorities,” said Geoff Kors, Palm Springs City Council member.

Some people at the meeting were upset action had not been taken sooner.

“This is not something that has just popped up. People have been aware of this for the last 10 years in my opinion. It is something that involves planning, so it just calls into the question the competence of the city manager as well as past leadership and present leadership in the city,” said Trae Daniel of Palm Springs.

Retirement costs are one problem, but Ready said the city also needs more police and firefighters. To illustrate that point, he showed a check from the county to Palm Springs in the amount of $43,529.22. Ready said that’s the total amount from penalty fees paid by the AMR ambulance service where they did not make it to calls in under 10 minutes.The city is looking to hire four new police officers, two community service officers, and six new firefighters/paramedics.

The city is still a long way from officially making cuts. Council members said they will wait until after the election, but they are urging programs like parks and recreation to find ways to trim the fat now.

What do you think about the Measure D tax increase? Let us know in the comments below or tell Joe Galli on Facebook and Twitter @JoeGalliNews.