В бюджете Реддинга выявили потенциал экономии 80 миллионов долларов

Redding council budget review identified $80M in potential savings REDDING, Calif. — Redding city leaders got a clearer picture of where millions of dollars could be freed up in the city’s strained budget after an outside review identified more than $80 million in potentially recoverable funds. The city sought ways to get its budget back on track and hired Circle 6 to conduct a four-phase review. The City Council heard findings from the first two phases, a rapid assessment and immediate quick wins, Sept. 1. Circle 6 flagged just under $1 million in encumbrances that had been inactive for about a year. The city determined about $800,000 could be released to the original departments that had the funds. Circle 6 also flagged more than $80 million in carryovers, or money from previous fiscal years that was moved forward. City officials said carryovers were common, especially for infrastructure projects. After reconciling the data, Circle 6 removed $64.5 million in duplicate or unfiltered entries. That left $16.1 million for validation during a project-level review. “Circle 6, working with our managerial staff, came up with a plan. Part of that was initial quick wins, which we have implemented over the last nine months or so,” Vice Mayor Paul Dhanuka said. A third area involved projects that had been completed but still had money attached to them. Circle 6 flagged more than $200,000, and the city determined $18,000 of that could be released. Dhanuka said the review was about more than cutting costs. “Part of that is going to be to reduce the budget by reducing the waste or any unnecessary cost, but part of it has to be growing that economic engine and growing our economy,” he said. Two phases of the review remained, including future planning and structural changes. “That’s what we should be doing every few years. We have that system in hospitals and medical institutions; every couple of years we have accreditation, so an external body comes in, does a deep dive, does audits and makes a recommendation,” Dhanuka said. The remaining Circle 6 findings will come before the council at its Sept. 15 meeting. They will be posted online Sept. 10 so the public can review them before the meeting. --