Fresno cuts $8.8 million from city budget

February 10th, 2009

Fresno, CA - The city of Fresno will about to cut almost $9 million from the budget this year and lay off around 50 temporary workers as city officials prepare for an anticipated deficit of over $11 million next year.

In the city council meeting last Tuesday, City Manager Andy Souza described the $8.8 million in cuts. This will not include lay offs of permanent employees.

According to Souza, over $3 million will be saved from the budget of the police department, including $200,000 from the gang initiative of the mayor, $146,000 in wages to temporary employees, and almost $200,000 in overtime costs that are related to training. Some of the savings in the police department budget will come from canceling orders for new patrol cars and changes in the way the department finances its retirement programs.

Even with these cuts, the city is still expected to have a deficit of $4.3 million. This gap would be closed by May by means of various additional citywide cuts, Souza said.