16 MONTEREY COUNTY WEEKLY JUNE 15-21, 2023 www.montereycountyweekly.com empty positions that are fully budgeted and departments have been striving to underspend over the past two years, further keeping the city in a positive cash flow situation. It contributes to Uslar’s positive outlook, despite ongoing worries over a recession: “We have lived through several recessions in the past. Visitor volume never changed drastically,” he says. “They still want to enjoy the coast, buy meals and a souvenir.” (The influx of tourists causes the city’s daytime population to swell from nearly 27,000 people to as high as 70,000 a day during summer months, which puts a strain on city services— and per-resident figures included in the chart below don’t take into account the tourist population. Transient occupancy tax accounts for 31 percent of Monterey’s revenue, more than any other local city. “It’s great [residents] aren’t bearing the burden of city services, but it also means we have to rely on tourism dollars to provide the services our residents and visitors desire,” Assistant City Manager Nat Rojanasathira says. ) And while tourism is still slightly below pre-pandemic levels—a recent study reported that in 2022 tourism spending was $3 billion, a 5.5-percent decrease from 2019—Uslar says gains have been made that give him confidence the city will do well in the coming fiscal year. Soledad Soledad is facing a “pretty much status quo budget” for fiscal year 2023-24, per City Manager Megan Hunter. Revenues are softening (not unusual across the state, Hunter says) after a few years when they performed perhaps better than expected. That’s due to how the small South County city makes its money—sales tax is a major source of revenue for Soledad, but the city doesn’t have much retail. During the pandemic, when people stayed home and shopped online, the city did well, considering. Now that people are out and about again, Soledad is once again losing money to its bigger, more developed neighbors—primarily Salinas. (Weathered by inflation, consumers are also spending less in general.) The city is actively working to capture more retail spending in the future, primarily through development of Soledad Marketplace, a commercial center where a Premiere Cinemas opened in May 2022 (the Marketplace also has a Grocery Outlet). “All of the jurisdictions [that don’t rely on tourism] probably need to pump up retail,” Hunter says, adding that this definitely applies to Soledad. Despite a conservative budget, there are a lot of projects underway in Soledad. These include American Rescue Plan Act-funded projects like a sewer project on Dixie Street, a violence prevention initiative and a new kitchen for the community center. Hunter calls ARPA “one of the best things federal government has ever done for local government.” The city also has funding to start site development work at the site of an envisioned village composed of shipping containSALINAS SEASIDE MONTEREY SOLEDAD MARINA GREENFIELD PACIFIC GROVE KING CITY GONZALES CARMEL DEL REY OAKS SAND CITY Population 159,475 29,790 26,845 26,230 22,068 19,917 14,741 13,817 8,300 3,033 1,540 376 Projected 2023-24 revenue $175.7 million $46.3 million $98.2 million $12.2 million $32 million $19.8 million $30.6 million $10.5 million $29.5 million $30.5 million $4.7 million $10.2 million Projected 2023-24 expenditures $186.5 million $46 million $98 million $13.7 million $19.5 million $31.4 million $11.4 million $30.3 million $40.8 million• $4.6 million $8.5 million Revenue per resident $1,102 $1,554 $3,660 $464 $1,450 $1,022 $2,078 $762 $3,551 $10,059 $3,022 $27,128 Spending per resident $1,169 $1,544 $3,660 $523 $1,005 $2,133 $828 $3,651 $13,466 $2,997 $22,606 2023/24 expenditures for police; percent of budget $60.1 million 32% $15.3 million 30% $23.4 million 24% $5,771,740 42% $7 million 36% $8.3 million 27% $4.9 million 43% $3.8 million 13% $5.8 million 14% $2.7 million 58% $3.8 million 44% 2023/24 expenditures for fire safety; percent of budget $28.8 million 15% $10 million 19% $18.9 million 19% $1.6 million 12% $2.9 million 15% $5.3 million 17% $401,346 4% $1.2 million 4% $3.1 million 8% $227,600 5% $345,000 4% 2023/24 expenditures for CalPERS; percent of budget $25.4 million 14% $6.5 million 13% $4.4 million 4% $1.6 million 12% $945,538 5% $4.7 million 15% $1 million 9% $828,345 3% $3 million 10% $313,500 7% $756,300 9% 2023/24 revenue from hotel tax (TOT); percent of revenue $3.9 million 2% $4.6 million 10% $30.3 million 31% $150,000 1% $9 million 28% $75,000 <1% $6.6 million 21% $525,000 5% $2,200 <1% $6.8 million 12% $190,000 4% $126,000 1% 2023/24 revenue from sales tax; percent of revenue $90 million 51% $20.2 million 44% $15.5 million 16% $4.7 million 38% $9.8 million 31% $6.1 million 31% $6 million 19% $4.6 million 44% $1.7 million 6% $3.7 million 12% $1.3 million 28% $4 million 39% 2023/24 revenue from property tax; percent of revenue $21.5 million 12% $11 million 24% $15.1 million 15% $632,000 5% $4.8 million 15% $651,659 3% $9.6 million 31% $1.3 million 12% $880,546 3% $8.5 million 28% $767,700 16% $135,000 1% 2023/24 revenue from cannabis; percent of revenue $2 million 1% $1.4 million 3% $0 $0 $275,000 <1% $2.3 million 12% $0 $485,000 5% $0 $0 $99,000 2% $0 Total wages and benefits paid, 2022 $100.2 million $29.3 million $69.6 million $9.5 million $10.2 million $9.9 million (2021) $11.4million $4.1 million $6.2 million $9.8 million $2.8 million $3.3 million Number of city employees (2022, full-time equivalents) 606.5 308 ^ 375 133 ^ 89 109.25 105 45 43 96 14 20 City Manager compensation (salary and benefits, 2022) $313,101 $250,000 $259,669 $199,116 $264,000 $263,500 $274,807 $248,434 $215,182 $318,468 $192,500 $216,000 Police Chief compensation (salary and benefits, 2022) $402,616+ $235,601 $227,099 $184,534 $230,000 $178,980 $246,936 $256,902 $229,142 $141,126.21+ $160,000 $177,410 Fire Chief compensation (salary and benefits, 2022) $314,631 (2021) $242,250 (2021) ~ $282,323 > n/a; contract with Cal Fire $248,000 $202,092 $282,323 > $11,600 * $142,969 $282,323 > $242,250 (2021) ~ $282,323 > Highest-paid city official, 2022 (wages and benefits) Firefighter Robert Flynn, $428,453 Fire Capt. Raymond Lafontaine $391,340 Former City Manager Brent Slama, $199,116 City Manager Layne Long, $264,000 City Manager Paul Wood, $263,500 City Manager Ben Harvey, $274,807 Police Sgt. Anthony Shaw, $269,787 Police Chief Keith Wise, $229,142 City Administrator Chip Rerig, $318,468 City Manager John Guertin, $192,500 Former Police Cmdr. Vito Graziano, $361,417 CITY BUDGETS, SIDE-BY-SIDE • Carmel’s city administrator proposes using $10.3 million from a fund to balance the budget + Includes current and former chief > These four cities, plus Monterey Regional Airport, share a fire chief; this is his total compensation * King City’s volunteer firefighters receive stipends ^ Full-time plus seasonal workers ~ Del Rey Oaks contracts with Seaside Fire Department; this is the chief’s total compensation Each city is in a different stage of approving its 2023-24 budget; some data below remains in draft form. Some data was not yet available. Sources: City budgets and city staff; California Department of Finance; State Controller
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