... and where must they go in order to achieve any real savings ?
(snip)"Vallejo cops, firefighters agree to cut raises
By Bobby Caina Calvan - [email protected]
Published 12:00 am PST Saturday, March 1, 2008
Story appeared in MAIN NEWS section, Page A3
Vallejo police and firefighters have tentatively agreed to forgo raises amounting to millions of dollars in savings as part of concessions aimed at staving off bankruptcy for the cash-strapped city.
The deal, which will be considered Monday for approval by the City Council as part of an emergency financial plan, doesn't necessarily end debate over whether the city should seek bankruptcy protection.
Vallejo is expecting to go over its $80 million general fund by $13 million and is looking to dramatically trim its spending to keep it from becoming the state's first sizable city to seek bankruptcy protection.
The city is considering laying off at least 16 employees and leaving 22 jobs vacant – which will cut the city work force by 19 percent, according to a report released Friday evening.
As part of the deal, which would require ratification by union members, police and firefighters would forgo a 1.5 percent raise remaining for this fiscal year, which ends June 30.
The 8.5 percent salary increase scheduled for fiscal 2008-09 would be cut to 2 percent.
The starting salary of Vallejo firefighters is about $85,000, a union official said.
The tentative agreement, which would modify public safety contracts extending to 2010, also calls for the city and unions to hire a mediator to help both sides continue discussions about additional ways to cut costs, raise revenues and find a way out of the city's economic troubles.
To further cut costs, the city may be losing 12 sworn officers and cut back on firehouse staffing."(snip)
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I'll set aside a strong motivation to comment on $85k per year as an appropriate STARTING salary for a fireman ...
So here we have a situation where more and more people are losing their jobs, people are facing higher and higher prices for food / gasoline / rent / mortgage, etc. such that the potential for robberies, assaults and crime in general is growing by the day. So what is the first thing that local gov'ts must do to balance their budgets ? Fire cops and emergency services workers ! Of course state laws won't allow cities to cut back on their 'share' of MediCal costs etc, so they don't have many alternatives other than to drastically increase local tax rates.
Considering that about one in six Californians draws a paycheck from the public 'till', this is going to end VERY badly !




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