CLEARLAKE — The Clearlake City Council passed a $5.1 million operational budget Thursday for Fiscal Year 2010-11. The Clearlake Police Department budget, which includes Measure P and grant revenues, is about $3.1 million.
The budget was passed on a 4-1 vote with Councilmember Roy Simons in dissent.
According to City Administrator Dale Neiman, expenditures for the General Fund have been reduced by 7.1 percent compared to actual costs of last fiscal year.
Neiman said there is a significant shortage in the cash balance of the city”s budget. “It is important to recognize the city needs to have an adequate amount of cash reserves to be able to make it through difficult financial times like we faced the last three years. If we had an adequate level of cash reserves we would not have had to reduce services as much as we have,” he said. Neiman said the city began the year with $216,361 in cash reserves. “At the end of the year we are estimated to have $142,722 in cash reserves,” he said. “The accepted minimum standard for cash reserves is 15 percent of the operational costs. As a result, we should have a minimum of $762,680 in cash reserves. We are short by $619,958.”
The council continued a public hearing regarding adoption of the Redevelopment Agency Budget. The item will be brought back before the council at specially-scheduled meeting, 9 a.m. Nov. 12. The meeting was rescheduled from the regular Nov. 11 date due to the Veterans” Day holiday
The council also moved to extend its moratorium prohibiting the establishment of new medical marijuana dispensaries in the city. The moratorium was extended for an additional year; however, the council and Neiman indicated that the moratorium may be lifted prior to the end of the one year extension should regulations for dispensaries be developed.
