Budget woes may keep Santa Maria residents out of two popular summertime hangouts — the public library and swimming pool — for several months.
City leaders recently released the draft spending blueprint for the 2020-22 fiscal years with the council set to adopt the budget on Tuesday.
Keeping the Santa Maria Public Library shuttered through September and the Paul Nelson Aquatic Center closed until 2021 are two proposals in the document that also does not fund new staffing for the police and fire departments.
City Manager Jason Stilwell said staff prepared the budget plan as “the world was rocked by the unprecedented combination of a public health emergency and an economic crisis” linked to the COVID-19 pandemic.
“This crisis pushes the city’s finances to a tipping point. The impact of COVID-19 is unlike anything the city has seen before,” Stilwell said.
That led to some less-than-popular recommendations.
The Paul Nelson Aquatic Center, which recently underwent a grant-funded makeover, would remain closed for months, until January 2021 per one budget document or spring 2021 according to another estimate.
The proposal prompted an online petition to keep the pool open with more than 3,900 signatures collected as of Friday afternoon.
“The Paul Nelson Aquatic Center is a place for the community to learn to swim, swim laps for mental and physical health, or because that’s the only way someone can exercise,” Michael Ashmore from the Santa Maria Swim Club told the council shortly after the draft budget’s release earlier this month. “We need to double down on getting all of our community back into the pool after months of no activity. These are difficult times, and regardless of how the budget looks, it’s an opportunity for out-of-the-box thinking.”
The Swim Club could provide most of the program offered by the city, building upon the nonprofit organization’s swim lessons and adult swim time, Ashmore said.
“We have a ready group of volunteers that’s ready to assist around the pool if it means getting and keeping it open for the community,” Ashmore said.
The Santa Maria Public Library could stay shuttered through September under the draft spending blueprint. (Janene Scully / Noozhawk photo)
But city officials said the club's offer to take over operations does not factor in the city’s $382,000 in fixed operating costs.
The pool still would require maintenance during the closure, but those costs would be reduced since the city would not use the heating system, could reduce use of the electric pumps and lower the amount of the water cleaning chemicals.
Eliminating some recreation programs or closing the Abel Maldonado Community Youth Center were rejected as staff looked for cuts that could cause the least impacts, Recreation and Parks Director Alex Posada said. Other options, such as “browning out parks,” wouldn’t generate the needed savings.
“It was a major decision for us,” Posada told the Recreation and Parks Commission on Tuesday about the proposed pool closure. “While we didn’t like the pool idea, it was one that had the least amount of direct impacts that we could find anyway.”
The pool generates revenue — $100,000 from user fees — that covers 10 percent of the approximately $1 million in expenses, Posada said, adding that the city hopes to find alternative pools for use until the city reopens.
“It’s not a pretty picture," he said. "I wish I could do something different. That was the tough recommendation that we had to make.”
Under the proposal, the Santa Maria library, which closed during the public health crisis, would be shuttered until Oct. 1, prompting leaders of the Library Foundation and Friends of the Santa Maria Library to urge patrons to contact council members.
While the library remained closed since mid-March, the staff handled hundreds of overflow calls for people needing services from the Foodbank of Santa Barbara County. Staff also provided online reading time for children.
Cutbacks would mean the furlough of 10 full-time and eight part-time employees until Oct. 1 in addition to the 30 workers affected by the COVID-19 cutbacks.
The closure would primarily affect the main library. The county-funded branch libraries in Guadalupe, Los Alamos, Orcutt and Cuyama would offer some limited hours for that three-month period.
The proposed closure comes after librarian Mary Housel heralded an expansion of hours in early January, making the main facility open seven days a week. This summer, the library intended to unveil its new bookmobile.
Like many other cities, Santa Maria's General Fund has operated with structural deficit for years, exacerated by $4.3 million in 2020-21 by COVID-19 impacts.
For the current fiscal year, the city’s operating budget totaled $222 million. In the new fiscal year starting July 1, the spending blueprint adds up to $217 million and 550 employees.
City budget gurus have projected a nearly $11 million loss in General Fund revenue over the two years, with plans to pull from reserves even with the cutbacks.
A number of positions, all currently vacant, will be unfunded for the first year with more unfunded and even eliminated in the second year.
Without the coronavirus and its economic impacts, city staff projected a General Fund deficit of $929,134 in 2020-21, with plans to again pull from reserves.
Because of COVID-19, the city will need more cutbacks and the use of $9.9 million in reserves for the current and next two fiscal years, Stilwell said.
Familiar funding challenges also persist, starting with “ever-spiraling” California Public Employee Retirement System payment obligations, increases in personnel compensation, fleet expenses, and rising costs for maintenance and contracts, Stilwell said.
City leaders don’t know what, if any, state or federal aid package might help Santa Maria or the timing of any relief. The city also needs to explore raising additional revenue, the city manager said.
“For the city, this situation is sounding alarm bells,” Stillwell said.
The City Council meeting is scheduled to begin at 5:30 p.m. Tuesday with live remote viewing available online since the Council Chambers remain closed because of public health restrictions. For instructions on how to provide public comments, see the agenda by clicking here.
— Noozhawk North County editor Janene Scully can be reached at .(JavaScript must be enabled to view this email address). Follow Noozhawk on Twitter: @noozhawk, @NoozhawkNews and @NoozhawkBiz. Connect with Noozhawk on Facebook.
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June 14, 2020 at 09:00AM
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Santa Maria Mulls Extended Closures of Pool, Library to Save Money Amid COVID-19 Crisis - Noozhawk
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