Adelanto could slice $1.2M from deficit - User-utility tax scrapped from July election

• Adelanto could slice $1.2M from deficit

  User-utility tax scrapped from July election

  Daily Press

  By Shea Johnson
  Staff Writer

  
  Posted Apr. 9, 2015 at 12:45 PM
  Updated at 2:29 PM 
  
  

  ADELANTO — The City Council was often upbeat Wednesday night, tossing around jokes while lauding the recent efforts of the city to slowly turn around a $1.7 million deficit that has generated intense pressure to close budget gaps.

  The positive tone, some officials agreed, might be attributed to a Council that is 60 percent new since last year's election, and the group has seemingly jelled well on the dais. Largely backed by the few dozen attending Wednesday’s regular meeting, the Council appeared to thrive on adopting an us-against-the-world mentality.

  After the Council requested that staff accelerate some recovery of $3 million owed to the city by the Adelanto Public Utility Authority — a potential $1.2 million boost to the general fund only made possible because a drawn-out lawsuit with a former bond insurer was settled — Mayor Pro Tem Jermaine Wright alluded to a public perception that the city may not survive.

  “They can stop talking about us going back to the county, ‘we’re going away, that this city is done for,’ because let's be honest, we’re working our butts off here to get this thing done,” Wright said. “And with staff and this Council, we have found money that’s owed to keep us going, so maybe we should change (the city slogan) from, ‘City of Unlimited Possibilities’ to 'We’re a Phoenix City,' because out of the ash, we keep rising.

  “Every time they count us out, we come right back up and we’re fighting.”

  But even with the recovered funds, officials acknowledged it would be just a short-term fix. The city has enough cash on hand for at least one more fiscal year but will continue searching for long-range revenue generation and savings opportunities.

  It was also revealed Wednesday that a utility-user tax initiative will not move forward in a July special election, an option the Council had previously weighed. While the news drew applause, arguably the loudest cheers came at the onset of Wednesday’s meeting when Mayor Rich Kerr stood firm against the idea of disincorporation.

  Prompted by a woman asking why the Council doesn't put the option to disincorporate on a ballot, suggesting that San Bernardino County could provide superior services, Kerr said it wasn’t a serious option.

  “Just so you know, we’re not even going to look at that. We’re not going back to the county and we’re not going to put it on a ballot, because that would mean that we quit and we gave up on the city,” he said. “And I’m not saying nothing other than from my heart; I’ll die first. We’re not giving up on the city. We’re going to do everything we can."

  However, Kerr, did not say disincorporation was completely out of the question in the future.

  “If it comes to pass, ma’am, if we have to, then we have to,” he added, “but we’re not done.”

  In the budget-planning process for months, officials said they plan to integrate Wednesday’s feedback from the Council into the process leading up to final adoption of the fiscal year 2015-16 spending plan.

  Shea Johnson may be reached at 760-955-5368 or SJohnson@VVDailyPress.com. Follow him on Twitter at @DP_Shea.