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From: Reemal Namvar <br />To: Council -Diane Howard; GRP -City Council <br />Subject: Re: We need our firefighters in Redwood City <br />Date: Monday, October 26, 2020 2:33:42 PM <br />I understand the budget of the city please do not remove the firefighters from the down town <br />redwood city, it's very important for Redwood City down town needs them. Thank you <br />Sent from Yahoo Mail for iPhone <br />On Monday, October 26, 2020, 1:37 PM, Council -Diane Howard <DHoward@redwoodcity.org> <br />wrote: <br />Dear Reema, <br />Thank you so much for your email regarding the Revised Budget that the City <br />Council will consider at its meeting tonight. Your email has been shared with <br />both our City Council and Staff, and your comments will be included as Public <br />Comment for this topic. <br />I wanted to share some context for the Revised Budget, and encourage you to <br />review the staff report and Revised Budget. <br />Because of the COVID-19-related recession, City operating revenues are <br />expected to drop 8.1 % or $13.1 million compared to FY 2019-20. We expect it <br />will take at least five years for revenue to return to FY 2019-20 levels. <br />When reduced revenues are combined with known cost increases to fund <br />pension and retiree health obligations, the City must reduce operating costs <br />and seek new revenues. Without action, we would face annual deficits of $7-13 <br />million per year for the foreseeable future. We appreciate voter support for <br />Measure RR in 2018; without it, the City would face even greater deficits. <br />The Revised Budget reduces expenditures in all City departments, including <br />$4.9 million in funding for public safety services (5-6% of Fire and Police <br />Department expenditures). Total reductions are $7.7 million. <br />The reductions do not lay off any employees; they selectively maintain existing <br />staff vacancies while we work with employees to assess opportunities to <br />reduce costs and modify service delivery approaches. We are hopeful that this <br />work will move quickly. <br />Thank you for reaching out to the City Council and may you and your family be <br />