The City of Sacramento says staffing reductions in the fire department are a possibility if the department continues to lose money.
The department is almost $3 million in the red for this fiscal year.
Leyne Milstein is the Director of Finance for the City. She says the fire department is struggling to meet its goal for ambulance service revenue and it has an increase in expenses in its dispatch center.
"They are doing two things," says Milstein. "One, they have fully-staffed. Two, they are starting to save up money to do a capital replacement of their dispatch software. And so, those costs are passed on to those who utilize the dispatch center and we are one of the two largest users."
Milstein says revenues from the ambulance service are almost $2 million below expectations.
The city is considering proposing an increase in ambulance fees this spring.
The City of Sacramento has a $14 million budget surplus from last year.
Leyne Milstein is the City's Finance Director. She will ask the City Council Tuesday to approve a plan on how to use the money.
The plan includes spending $2 million to move the city's data center out of a basement and to a building with minimal flood risk.
"We're also going to be addressing some other bond-funded projects, critical needs -our top-five deferred maintenance projects- including work at the Sacramento Public Library and some energy-efficiency projects at our police stations."
On-street parking revenue has declined this year by $1 million, but Milstein describes that as a "one-time problem" that will be solved with surplus funds.
The City hopes to put about $2 million each into a rainy-day fund and toward retiree benefits that are currently unfunded.
The City got the surplus from increased property taxes, by not filling vacant positions, and by winning a lawsuit against Sacramento County over fees the county was charging.
Fiscal Year FY201213 Comprehensive Annual Financial Report
City of Sacramento Fiscal Year (FY) 2013/14 Midyear Budget Report by CapRadio
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