We notice the mess

"According to the Times-Herald, the police and fire departments cost 80 percent of the budget. Management takes the remaining 20 percent."

I suppose that there should be a requirement for the citizens to comprehend what they read and understand the general provisions of a budget too! Now there's the real boondoggle.

So McCarthy would have us believe that it is the 20% that is the problem. Ridiculous. i recall seeing some numbers last year that indicated that in well-run, financially stable cities of Vallejo's size, the percentage of the budget dedicated to compensation for public service employees is somewhere in the range of 50 to 55%.

In Vallejo, over several years, PREViOUS city negotiators and the City Council, believing that the only way is up, always, and because of the secrecy permitted--no, MANDATED--by the Brown Act, that percentage in THIS town was permitted to jump up to the 70% range.

And by the way, not everything of the budget goes to compensation of employees--the city must buy EVERYTHING used in this town--telephone service, electricity, gas, gravel, sand, asphalt, concrete, water, wood. When this town pays the VAST majority of its budget on salaries, wages & other compensation alone, then it has nothing left with which to buy, you know, nice things like asphalt to pave our streets and concrete to pour curbs & sidewalks, wood pilings to improve the city marina, police cars, firefighting equipment, motorcycles, landscaping carts, shovels, rakes, topsoil, plants, trees.

The problem is that we are paying public service employees--principally fire & police--way too much. That is a FACT, not an opinion. There is simply NO excuse when the highest-paid employee of this city in 2007 was a police officer who was paid, overall, nearly a half-million dollars!!! That amount of money SHOULD have bought the services of 6 or 7 police officers, not ONE! That is a FACT!

Police and fire salaries are paid from the general fund. The general fund is not "the budget". It is one of dozens and dozens of funds the city has. The city has a budget of hundreds of millions of dollars, and police and fire do not take 80% of that.

Geez, will you get over it. The budget we are using to pay the FD and PD is the general fund. They take most of it. The statement is correct. If you want to include the water department, which is separate, and other separate departments you are just trying to hide the ridiculous salaries we pay. We can't afford the highest paid firefighters and police in the world. We are bankrupt and the judge agrees with that. We need to cut pay for fire and police by about 50% to bring them into line with what we can afford. If they don't want to work for that let them leave and we will have lines a mile long wanting to hire on.

dark vision wrote:

Geez, will you get over it. The budget we are using to pay the FD and PD is the general fund. They take most of it. The statement is correct. If you want to include the water department, which is separate, and other separate departments you are just trying to hide the ridiculous salaries we pay. We can't afford the highest paid firefighters and police in the world. We are bankrupt and the judge agrees with that. We need to cut pay for fire and police by about 50% to bring them into line with what we can afford. If they don't want to work for that let them leave and we will have lines a mile long wanting to hire on.

If you want to cut the pay of police officers or firefighters pay by 50%, you might as well just close up both departments, because they will all leave or retire. If you really believe that you'll have a good quality police or fire department if this happens, you're delusional.

What a great idea, lets go to Solano County and go unicoorporated. A county that has an 80 plus million dollar deficit. They are already cutting back in the Sheriff's Dept.

So Vallejo can go from Bankrupt 12 mil to a county over triple the deficit. There are now 200 deputies county wide. Vallejo on a normal day has 158. So how is the County going to protect Vallejo? With deficit money? Vallejo just may go from bad to worse.

interesting wrote:

Police and fire salaries are paid from the general fund. The general fund is not "the budget". It is one of dozens and dozens of funds the city has. The city has a budget of hundreds of millions of dollars, and police and fire do not take 80% of that.

And what other budget besides the general fund can you pay Police and Fire salaries?

A fresh start you say?

Sure, start voting for candidates that do not receive funding from PSUs or labor groups.

You will then get a different type of City Leader than you have had for the last 20 years.

I know, it's a tired message, but it bears repeating. People keep complaining about City Leaders, but don't vote to correct the situation during elections.:-/

wow!! they might have to pay 25% of the pemium for their health care benefits!! I bet a lot of people wish they only had to pay 25%.

ooops that should be premium and not pemium

"The problem is that we are paying public service employees--principally fire & police--way too much. That is a FACT, not an opinion. There is simply NO excuse when the highest-paid employee of this city in 2007 was a police officer who was paid, overall, nearly a half-million dollars!!! That amount of money SHOULD have bought the services of 6 or 7 police officers, not ONE! That is a FACT! "
AFFIRMED!
VALLEJO'S CITY EMPLOYEES GET PAID WAY TOO MUCH. WE ARE LOOKING AT ALL THEIR PAYOUTS OVER HERE, AND EVEN A RICH COUNTY SUCH MARIN COUNTY CAN AFFORD THESE PAYOUTS SO WHY DOES VALLEJO THINK THEY CAN?

There should be a cap on the amount of OT they can work.

GlitterDome wrote:

"The problem is that we are paying public service employees--principally fire & police--way too much. That is a FACT, not an opinion. There is simply NO excuse when the highest-paid employee of this city in 2007 was a police officer who was paid, overall, nearly a half-million dollars!!! That amount of money SHOULD have bought the services of 6 or 7 police officers, not ONE! That is a FACT! "
AFFIRMED!
VALLEJO'S CITY EMPLOYEES GET PAID WAY TOO MUCH. WE ARE LOOKING AT ALL THEIR PAYOUTS OVER HERE, AND EVEN A RICH COUNTY SUCH MARIN COUNTY CAN AFFORD THESE PAYOUTS SO WHY DOES VALLEJO THINK THEY CAN?

All money problems in Vallejo have been brought about by poor decision making at 555 Santa Clara St, not by VPD or VFD. Last time I checked the line staff of officers and firefighters don't get to write checks. Public Safety makes up 17% of the total city budget, way less than a lot of cities. For you tards, then general fund is THERE TO PAY ITS EMPLOYEES!! That's why it is there, just like the transportation fund is for transportation...you ignorant schmucks!
Here's a novel idea - BRING IN REVENUE!!

shANUS n traiTARDs ghost wrote:

<quoted text>And what other budget besides the general fund can you pay Police and Fire salaries?

Bills are not paid from budgets. Budgets are planned allocations of projected incomes from various sources. Bills are paid from accounts. The city of Vallejo chooses to pay its police and fire from the general fund. The city could create another fund called "Public Safety Salaries", transfer money into that fund, and pay them from that. There is no magic about the fact that the city chooses to pay them from the general fund.

interesting wrote:

<quoted text>
Bills are not paid from budgets. Budgets are planned allocations of projected incomes from various sources. Bills are paid from accounts. The city of Vallejo chooses to pay its police and fire from the general fund. The city could create another fund called "Public Safety Salaries", transfer money into that fund, and pay them from that. There is no magic about the fact that the city chooses to pay them from the general fund.

What other fund would allow for discretionary spending? As far as I know it is the general fund not the total budget. You can slice up the general fund anyway you wish but the entire pot of discretionary spending money is called the general fund in public fund accounting (like it or not).

Trashman wrote:

All money problems in Vallejo have been brought about by poor decision making at 555 Santa Clara St, not by VPD or VFD. Last time I checked the line staff of officers and firefighters don't get to write checks. Public Safety makes up 17% of the total city budget, way less than a lot of cities. For you tards, then general fund is THERE TO PAY ITS EMPLOYEES!! That's why it is there, just like the transportation fund is for transportation...you ignorant schmucks!
Here's a novel idea - BRING IN REVENUE!!

Is this Grissles Valium speaking.

Public Safety comprises about 80% of the General Fund.Heneke wants to go after the Enterprise Funds but the law says he can't--so get over the lust for these untouchable funds

GlitterDome wrote:

"The problem is that we are paying public service employees--principally fire & police--way too much. That is a FACT, not an opinion. There is simply NO excuse when the highest-paid employee of this city in 2007 was a police officer who was paid, overall, nearly a half-million dollars!!! That amount of money SHOULD have bought the services of 6 or 7 police officers, not ONE! That is a FACT! "
AFFIRMED!
VALLEJO'S CITY EMPLOYEES GET PAID WAY TOO MUCH. WE ARE LOOKING AT ALL THEIR PAYOUTS OVER HERE, AND EVEN A RICH COUNTY SUCH MARIN COUNTY CAN AFFORD THESE PAYOUTS SO WHY DOES VALLEJO THINK THEY CAN?

Blaaaa, blaaaaaaa, blaaaaaa, get a real job loser

Trashman wrote:

All money problems in Vallejo have been brought about by poor decision making at 555 Santa Clara St, not by VPD or VFD. Last time I checked the line staff of officers and firefighters don't get to write checks. Public Safety makes up 17% of the total city budget, way less than a lot of cities. For you tards, then general fund is THERE TO PAY ITS EMPLOYEES!! That's why it is there, just like the transportation fund is for transportation...you ignorant schmucks!
Here's a novel idea - BRING IN REVENUE!!

You don't seem to grasp that the transportation budget is to pay for transportation, the water budget is for the water system. We don't bill for the fire or police departments, they come out of the general fund. We can't take money from water or transportation to pay your bloated obscene salaries, schmuck. SCHMACK !

interesting wrote:

Police and fire salaries are paid from the general fund. The general fund is not "the budget". It is one of dozens and dozens of funds the city has. The city has a budget of hundreds of millions of dollars, and police and fire do not take 80% of that.

You need to shut your stupid mouth. You're an Idiot Mrs. interesting.

Captain wrote:

<quoted text>
You need to shut your stupid mouth. You're an Idiot Mrs. interesting.

Well, that's certainly a helpful, insightful, and significant contribution from you. Is there some reason for your piontless outpouring of bile?