Swearengin on city finances
The City’s general fund has increased by 45% since 2002 from $173.6 million to $251.1 million in 2008. While the economy has slowed and the years of double-digit revenue growth are gone, the general fund has leveled off at revenue levels that will be higher than just a few years ago. That suggests to me that there are still sufficient resources to meet our expenses within City Hall. To make sure our current revenues are used most effectively, there are several measures I will implement.
First, I will initiate an efficiency review of city departments within the first 100 days of my administration. It has been approximately 5 to 6 years since such an evaluation was conducted. I am confident there are cost savings and efficiency improvements that will be found.
Second, I will institute multi-year budgeting. It is imperative that we begin to budget real costs of equipment, raises, borrowing and facilities over time. This approach to city finances will reduce the annual bickering over the budget and will help to constrain spending. This is an example of the “best practices” approach to governance that I will bring to City Hall.
Third, I will ensure the City of Fresno is utilizing e-government wherever possible to improve efficiencies and customer satisfaction. The citizens of Fresno should be able to spend their time on-line, not in a line.
Fourth, I will direct city departments to utilize volunteers wherever possible to maximize the efforts of city personnel. For example, Fresno Citizens Corps has 48 volunteers working across the community through the Americorp Safe and Proud Neighborhoods initiative to support our police department and make sure our city personnel are operating at their highest and best use.
Fifth, as we improve our urban neighborhoods, we will reduce the demand on city services and increase revenues from property taxes, redevelopment tax increment, and business license taxes. Improving the overall health of our community will result in increased revenues.
Finally, if revenues take a dramatic and prolonged downturn and the above measures do not yield sufficient savings, I will prioritize programs and services and make cuts where necessary. I would not cut basic and essential services, but would rather look to cut programs that have been initiated during good financial times that can be suspended during challenging economic times.
The above actions will help address revenue shortfalls for the ongoing operations of City Hall. In addition, as the Mayor of Fresno, my administration will aggressively pursue private foundation, state and Federal grants for special initiatives. Finding creative solutions to persistent problems and attracting private and public grant resources to implement those solutions is precisely what I’ve been doing for the last ten years. Through my past experience as the Director of the Central Valley Business Incubator and my current role as the Director of the Regional Jobs Initiative and the Governor’s Partnership for the San Joaquin Valley, I have been involved in attracting literally millions of dollars in private foundation, state and federal grants for small business support, increasing vocational training, helping to clean our air, improving our roads, and helping to meet our water needs.