Reno City Council Meeting to Deal with Budget Issues

The numbers just keep getting worse. The Reno / Sparks unemployment rate hit 9 percent in December, up from 7.8 percent in November and 5.3 percent a year ago. Of course, everything related to people earning money and spending it, which generates taxes for operating government, is down as well - retail sales, home buying, gambling, eating out, etc. There's also the looming possibility of the state raiding local government treasuries as it struggles with its own revenue problems, but that's another story.

During his State of the City address last week (on January 21), Reno Mayor Bob Cashell said he thought things would get worse before they start improving. He seemed to be preparing people for more bad news. As part of the presentation, City Manager Charles McNeely outlined what the city has been doing over the years to prepare for economic difficulties, and what has been done recently to cope with the current downturn. By the end of 2008, $26.6 million had been trimmed from the city's spending plans for the fiscal year.

From what I've been able to determine, the next City Council meeting will reveal whatever next steps may be taken to maintain a balanced budget. McNeely's office will present the recommendations it has been charged to produce, and it will be up to the City Council to decide what combination of steps to adopt, or not. Among options likely to land on the table are reductions in overtime, suspension of pay increases, mandatory furloughs, more position freezes, additional program budget cuts, and alternate work schedules. At the bottom of the list, but still under consideration, are staff layoffs.

The Reno City Council meets on Wednesday, January 28, at 10 a.m. The Reno City Hall is at One E. First Street in downtown Reno. The agenda and staff reports for this meeting are available from the City of Reno website. This would be a good one to attend.

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