South Lake Tahoe solidifies job cuts, budget up for vote
By Kathryn Reed
On Tuesday, the South Lake Tahoe City Council is being asked to layoff 19 people, not fund six open positions, reduce the hours of three employees, reclassify four people, and either establish or reclassify six other positions.
The action would equate to a $1.7 million savings in fiscal year 2011-12, and $2.2 million the following year.
The savings comes from salaries, pension payments, health care, workers’ comp and everything else the city as an employer must pay.
South Lake Tahoe’s fiscal year begins Oct. 1. With the council unwilling to pass a budget last month because of ongoing labor negotiations, it is operating on an emergency budget for this month.
On the Oct. 18 agenda are agreements to be ratified by the council with the South Lake Tahoe Firemen’s Association and Stationary Engineers Local 39 (General and Public Works).
While the council had a special closed session meeting Oct. 14 to discussion labor negotiations, no reportable action was taken. However, people close to the negotiations have told Lake Tahoe News agreements with the other employee groups are possible before Tuesday’s 9am meeting. If this were to occur, either a special meeting will be called to vote on contract changes or it could be incorporated into the next regular meeting in November. An addendum to the budget would be made to reflect the changes.
The positions slated for elimination include:
• Assistant engineer – one position
• Engineering manager – one position
• Engineering supervisor/stormwater coordinator – one position
• Fire division chief – three positions
• Heavy equipment operator – two positions
• Housing and redevelopment assistant – one position
• Lead street maintenance worker – two positions
• Legal assistant – one position
• Public works inspector – one position
• Recreation supervisor – two positions
• Recreation coordinator – one position
• Senior accounting technician – two positions
• Special events coordinator – one position
The positions not being funded include:
• Fire chief
• Firefighter
• Information systems technician
• Police officer
• Police sergeant
• Street maintenance worker
• Parks maintenance worker
The following positions are being created:
• Accountant (one position)
• Construction engineer (new classification, one position)
• Director of engineering (new at-will classification, one position)
• Environmental programs analyst (one position)
• Fire marshal (one position, unrepresented)
• Recreation program coordinator (new classification, one position)
Other personnel changes:
• Fire shift commander (three current employees reclassified from fire captain)
• Human resources technician (one incumbent reclassified from senior human resources administrative clerk)
• Three administrative assistants going from 40 to 32 hours per week.
Employees will be officially notified the same day the council votes, with changes effective 30 days later.
While talk on the street is those left behind are getting raises, this is only a partially correct statement. After two years, furloughs are being eliminated for most city employees. They will be paid for their time worked. Their hourly wage is not increasing. Their take-home pay increases because they are working more. In most dictionaries, that scenario does not define a raise.
If one uses the city manager as an example, the contract Tony O’Rourke signed in August 2010 called for a salary of $175,000 year. He has yet to be paid that because furloughs immediately meant his pay was $150,000. Though his pay is restored, the net effect of paying his share of PERS means his annual check is $161,000.
For the public, it means 23,000 hours more of service available each year. Those hours also equal to the salary of 11 full-time employees.
The lack of employees working is most noticeable with the road crew. Many of the snowplow drivers work roads in the dry months. But with all the overtime accrued while plowing and the inability to take furlough days because Mother Nature doesn’t cooperate, is means about a third of the road crew at any give time isn’t working during the summer/fall to get the back time for hours worked during the winter. This is one reason potholes go unfilled for long stretches.
It’s possible still that some of the snowplow drivers originally set to be laid off will remain on the city’s payroll.
The overall difference in savings from this fiscal year to next is in large part based on paying out accrued sick and vacation time, along with any severance that may have been negotiated.
While many have said that cuts should come from the top – that has happened. Most of those jobs were slashed in March. Overall, the reduction in staff from the spring saved the city $1.8 million. Of the nearly $3.6 million in personnel savings this calendar year, 53 percent of that comes from management cutbacks. Management-type employees represent 15 percent of the city’s workforce.
Even though it’s slashing of the budget that is the focus, the city is looking at ways to increase revenue. However, the three main revenue sources still remain – property tax (with many saying the Tahoe area has not hit bottom even though the 2011-12 budget calls for a modest increase), hotel tax (talk of raising it in 2013 to pay for roads), and sales tax (which is flat). Not much can be done to increase those sources of revenue.
A suggestion brought up by a member of the public to charge utilities for cutting city roads could bring in about $70,000 a year. With the work done this construction year, it might have been four times that amount.
A recreation tax is being talked about for 2013. The city has a multi-decade agreement with Heavenly Mountain Resort that lift tickets cannot be taxed. This was done when ASC owned the ski resort.
The budget is slated to be discussed at 2pm Tuesday. The meeting starts at 9am at Lake Tahoe Airport. This is the Oct. 18 City Council agenda. Mayor Hal Cole will start the morning with the state of the city address.
What is the expiration date for the contract with Heavenly, regarding the non-taxibility of lift tickets?
Does this contract include other forms of lift tickets, such as season’s passes, etc.?
It is beginning to sound, overall, that the City has gotten itself into quite a jam.
I think Heavenly’s financial contribution to the City via collecting and remitting sales tax on lift ticket sales is a reasonable solution toward helping address the City’s revenue shortfalls. While I agree with City Manager O’Rourke’s comment that Heavenly brings a lot of tourists/revenues to SLT they also use City services such as fire and police, and their customers extensively use the City’s infrastructure/roads. Like O’Rourke said, during these tough economic times everyone has to sacrifice, so maybe it’s time for Heavenly to start pitching in. I don’t think their charging sales tax on lift tickets will deter their customers from skiing/boarding at Heavenly and the revenue generated would go a long way toward helping the City economically.
One has to wonder what the reason was that the city agreed to not impose a tax for decades on Heavenly lift tickets.
If Heavenly was maintaining the roads and other infrastructure used by skiers, and providing its own ambulance and fire services, such an agreement might be understandable. But that’s not the case.
Here ya go Bob:
10.10 Lift Ticket Sales Within The City. The Agency acknowledges that Heaveny Ski Resort’s historic lift ticket sales occur beyond the City limits. Lift ticket sales have not been subject to tax within the jurisdictions where the the sale of Heavenly lift tickets occur. In consideration of offering lift ticketsales within the redevelopment Project Area shall not be subject to any City imposed tax or assesment for so laong as the Agency has long-term debt related to the project outstanding without the consent of Heavenly Valley, which may be withheld for any reason whatsoever. Upon repayment of any long term debt associated with the Development, the Agency and the City may, subject to compliance with normal procedures for imposing taxes, impose a lift ticket tax without Heavenly Valley’s consent.
Pretty good deal for them. As I see it, it’s basically forever.
So what is the city sales tax rate, around 8% ? On a $80 lift ticket that is 64 cents. Can’t Vail afford that? If not, make the tickets $81. Geeez, I would think Vail would easily make up that 64 cents on all those $9.00 beers they sell! This whole issue is really lame on Vail’s part!! And of course the city never should have agreed to it.
While we wonder about H.V. ticket sales, Did anyone notice that 25% of the street maint. division has been laid off ??
4 top people that all provide SNOW REMOVAL SERVICE to you. I hope you have a winter like 68 & 69 and then you will have an idea what snow removal Means
Steven, 8% of $80 is $6.40.
Heavenly has 2 base facilities in California, 2 base facilities in Nevada that sell lift tickets at minimum. If the city gets .5% of all sales tax take in the city of SLT, and Nevada doesn’t charge a sales tax, then keeping people here at the Heavenly Village in California might payoff overall in $s spent around/in the Village.
Be interesting to see a competent analysis of people who stay/play at the village on what $s are spent by all concerned.
John, ha ha ha, thanks for that, my math was asleep! So, can Vail afford that, $6.40 on a $80 ticket? Undoubtedly! By the way, has Heavenly stated what an adult ticket will cost this year?
In answer to steven’s math “They live among us and they vote”
Farkworth, I had to use a calculator.
Steve,
Sales tax is add to the cost of the item.
The purchaser pays the tax.
Where did you go to school? Or did you skip it?
Second off – if you understand how economics works taxes are paid by people. Always.
Prices ultimatlly include the cost of tax. Businesses simple are a conduit.
CA, has an ignorance problem. Poor education at a very steep cost.
Sorry about the typos above.
Spelling is a trivial issue for trivialists anyway. That’s why men use to have secretaries and writers have editors.
Stick to the important stuff.
The City has been needing to balance their budget for years. They need to do it w/tax structure in place. Realize the County gets tax revenue now. Its just robbing peter to pay paul. The city is a loser why prolong it on the back of Vail?
CONFIDENTIAL EMPLOYEES!!!! STILL CONFIDENTIAL ???
So, accuse a comment of being uneducated then say that spelling is trivial? Then, say that California has an ignorance problem. Eco Tahoe and farkworth, you might want to skip the snarky comments and stick to opinions germane to the topic. So many people just can’t avoid making the anonymous nasty comments, please do try. Thank you.
Is it possible that the California Lodge at Heavenly is not within the city limits? Of course, the Gondola is, but the Cal Base may not be, and therefore Heavenly has not been required to pay any taxes to the city. Therefore, to tax Heavenly would require moving city limits. I have often seen the El Dorado County Sheriff respond to calls at Cal Lodge, not the city. There is no doubt that Vail and Heavenly benefit from city services. The question is whether they are paying for those services appropriately and what mechanism should be used to ensure that they pay for what they use. This is certain to be more complicated than it seems.
dumb: Heavenly lodge is not withing the city limits and there lies the problem. They are using all our services, roads and not contributing except for the donations they make which are much appreciated.
Sales tax can,t be collected until bonds are paid off, 30 years or so. I don’t know about the countys deal.
Lou, as far as I can tell it’s forever. It reads “for so long as the Agency has long-term debt related to the project outstanding ” those bonds will never be paid off and if the original bonds are paid then they will use new bonds at a lower interest rate to pay them off but will still have outstanding debt.
A “No sales tax deal”… There ya go, Crony Capitalism at it’s finest. It is at the heart of CA and the nations problems.
Once government got it’s grubby little hands on doing selective deals with selective businesses you destroy free market economics.
Government is the problem and CA is the worst. Well at least a contender for worst. That is why CA should fail, the state should collapse finacially and the sooner the better.
Put the arrogant cronies in prison for what they did. Strip them of their lavish pensions and then you will be on the road to recovery.
My bet is you people will be harpin about the same old stuff years from now… It will even be the same old players or their minions.
John Upton for instance. What happened to all that issue from last week?
Same old same ol’
The workaround is to tax ski school, ski and board rentals at the Gondola and at all city rental shops. By the way, does the city collect tax on Sierra and Kirkwood tickets sold in city limits? Their buses use our roads. Charge them and Heavenly hefty fees for the right to operate in the city. Same for the tour boats, boat and jetski rentals, etc. Add/increase a city tax on alcohol and cigarettes and canabis
funny thing is how now everyone is crying to tax the ski industry, but as soon as anyone mentions rasiing TOT, all of a sudden that increase will destroy tourism.
Because TOT is almost the highest in the country and sales tax on lift tickets is 0000000.
For crying out loud!! Have the TOT money collected that has not been paid to the city! Who is in charge of this duty??? Can anyone out there tell me?? Vivian said all I needed to hear at the last open city council meeting–SOMEONE is screwing up royal on their responsibilities..Ski Bum’s article in the Mtn News had the right idea! Get HV into the City, Tax ticket sales at the Gondola, and Tax vacation rentals!! It is not rocket science, people–Sheesh! I hope it dumps like crazy this winter and the people on the City Council, and the City Mgr. get bermed in BIG TIME, for Days!! Maybe then, they will appreciate the experienced hard working public works department!! I think the whole lot of them are “IDIOTS!!” (Napoleon Dynamite)
Well the council folded and voted to eliminate more positions within the city instead of repealing the comp and class increase in pay that upper management got and the additional pay increases that quite a few of this group also got within the last year as THEIR job loads increase (like it didn’t through out the city service workers too). They’re rushing by not giving any time to collecting back TOT owed, or implementing many ideas brought forth by various community members. SHAME on them and BOO to paying ridiculous amounts of money to uppermanagement that will be here only a short time, live out of the city county lines and have no commitment to building this community.
Youhavegottobekiddingme is onto something…double standards…probably those same people that say the public works department is an experienced hard working department are the same ones that bashed the snow removal efforts this past winter. Too bad there was not a way to track individual poster’s comments to see how they have conflicting opinions on the same subject. Now that would be entertainment.